


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

by Sudmensch



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Anxiety, Exploration, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pokemon, Pokemon Battles, i'm not sure what drove me to write this, someone send help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:49:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 46
Words: 179,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23914108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sudmensch/pseuds/Sudmensch
Summary: So, I woke up as an apparently feral Oshawott without any memories but being human in a world where humans are long gone, and now I have to join my ever-anxious Treecko friend, journey through this strange land without even being able to speak, and find answers or die trying, all while a mysterious group plots some dark path for me and the rest of this world. Yep, sounds reasonable to me.
Comments: 30
Kudos: 81





	1. Brave New World

_Help me..._

_Please... someone, anyone..._

_It hurts..._

_It hurts so much..._

_...I can't hold on... the poison's setting in..._

_I'm so sorry..._

_..._

* * *

* * *

The sun beat down relentlessly on the dense forest, the only reprieve to those within being the occasional cloud obscuring the searing heat. Among the seemingly endless rows of trees the mystery dungeon boasted, an odd sight could be seen: a Quilava, hunched over digging through the tall grass quietly muttering to himself. Apparently unsuccessful in his search, he picked a single sticker from his paw as he groaned, sitting down to rest.

"Why does it always have to be a seed?" he groaned to himself. Swallowing the grit in his mouth, he set his pack down next to him, then dug for his canteen. It had been emptied about half an hour ago, but honestly, he wasn't complaining as long as he could get a few drops. Fire-types like him were known to be resistant towards heat, but even they could only take so much before they started to show their wear. Of course, for the Quilava, that wear meant his core literally burning him alive from the inside out. He preferred not to think about that.

Reviver Seeds were nothing anyone would want to lose, of course, especially an entire bag of them, but did it have to be Team Apex that had to find such things? Now, Quinite Forest was not exactly the most forgiving mystery dungeon to inexperienced explorers, as was the case with many of the dungeons in these lands, but still...

A sharp whistle rang through the dense forest. The Quilava perked up, a small excited spark escaping from the vents on his back. He trotted through a long, path-like clearing towards the source of the whistle: a Leafeon standing over a small, pale yellow seed. The Quilava picked it up gingerly, praying that this would be the start of what they were searching for. He looked it over for about a minute as the Leafeon waited, only for her to notice his eye beginning to twitch. She backed away as flames erupted from his back, his trembling paws clenched tightly around the seed. With a strangled yell, the Quilava threw it at the nearest tree, which promptly detonated with a loud bang. The Leafeon watched on, her eyes wide as the Quilava turned around panting, his paws clenched into tight fists.

"Another fucking Blast Seed," he said between clenched teeth.

The Quilava crumpled down and put his paws on his head, still seething as the Leafeon slowly approached him.

"Ardie, it's okay, you-" she began, only to be interrupted by her partner's exasperated sigh.

"Please, just don't, May," Arden whispered.

He had lost count of how many false positives the team had had over the day. Even May's usual demeanor was no match for the seemingly endless feral onslaughts, the scorching summer heat, and the maddeningly labyrinthine nature of Quinite Forest. He chuckled bitterly as he stood back up.

"Remember the good old days, back when Team Apex meant something? You know, when the most important thing we'd be doing at any given moment meant more than just finding some Pokémon's seeds? Victini as my witness, we've clocked a damn legendary between its eyes, and look where we are now..." May looked on as he continued to sulk. Arden knew that doing jobs like these was for the greater good, but still, there were moments like these where he wished for something more like the good old days...

"Honestly, I'm about ready to just pull out the Escape Orb. Sure, Arcanine wouldn't be very happy, but it can't be worse than another eight hours in here, right?" he said.

May let out a snort at his remark, her face relaxing as she turned to face one of the paths.

"Don't worry, Pike said that he'd look out for a staircase while he looked for Rye. Who knows, maybe it'll be up there and we won't have to listen to you whine anymore."

Arden was about to retort when a loud fluttering noise came from behind them. They spun around just in time to see a Swellow land and give a quick nod in acknowledgment of their presence.

"What've we got, Pike?" Arden inquired to the bird.

"I'd say the staircase's 'bout half a mile east. No sign of Lotad's seeds, though I did find the kid," he replied.

The two Pokémon perked up. The apprentice they had brought for the day's mission had been knocked into the river during an encounter with a particularly nasty feral, which had only continued to attack them when they tried to grab him. He had been missing for an hour now, and his survival in such an unforgiving dungeon had been doubtful at the time.

"Is he okay? Where is he?" May insisted. Pike shifted uncomfortably, the feathers on his chest flattening.

"That's the thing. He's around the area where that flock of Zubats attacked us."

The two's eyes widened as the information sank in. Dread-filled silence lingered for a moment before Arden spoke up.

"May, we do have any more Rollcall Orbs?"

May's face fell. She clutched the bag's strap between her teeth, tightening it around her as she replied, a hint of frustration in her voice.

"No, you used our only one when we ran into that warp trap."

Before Arden could do anything, May had begun bounding the way she had come, ignoring her partner's calls for her to come back. Pike sighed as Arden gritted his teeth and began picking up his things.

"Honestly, she's gonna get herself killed one day doin' that. You know as good as I do that those ferals... what is it ya say? Attack first, ask questions later? Get rid of that last bit and you're spot on. Little bastards," Pike said.

Arden gave a dry chuckle as the two hurriedly followed the path May had took. Pike couldn't help but stop to look back at the forestry behind them, which appeared to have caught ablaze by this point.

"I take it you found another Blast Seed?" the Swellow asked.

"What else?"

"Well, aren't ya gonna at least try to put that out?"

"Fuck it, just let the dungeon take care of it."

* * *

"Hello?!"

On a tree on a riverbank about half a mile away, a Treecko clutched tightly to a branch, looking around desperately for his superiors as the sky above him began to darken with the coming of the evening.

"Mr. Arden? Ms. May? Anyone?!"

He was again met with silence. Letting out a defeated groan, he climbed down from the tree. Honestly, he had been expecting a lot less from this mission, as every mission before this in his apprenticeship with Team Apex mostly had him carrying bags and facing off against the occasional weaker Pokémon. The Treecko had been separated from the others when a troublesome Sawsbuck had knocked him into the river, knocking him out in the process. When he had finally came to, he had been washed up in an unfamiliar place with nothing but a curious school of Basculin for his troubles. He doubted that Team Apex would be able to hear him at this point, so the best he could hope for was to wait for Pike to see him. He headed over to the riverbank, catching a glimpse of his reflection. Staring at it, he gave a small, bitter sigh.

"S-so much for becoming a great explorer, huh? I just wish I had someone like Dill to help make me less... useless..."

As he sulked, an anomaly in the scenery entered his peripheral vision. The Treecko whipped his head up to find a strange object lazily floating down the river. Intrigued, he squinted to see it clearer, then recoiled slightly, beginning to panic. Floating on the river was what appeared to be an aqua-blue Pokémon, unconscious and face down in the water.

The Treecko swore to himself. What was he supposed to do here? Judging by the lack of any sort of supplies with it, he could assume that this was a feral. If that was the case, then would saving it be worth it? He recalled what Pike had told him time and again as he watched the Pokémon drift.

_"Don't ever let ya guard down around a feral. It'll rip you apart the first chance it gets, and there is no negotiating with it. It will not listen, it will not care, it will only see you as prey."_

The Treecko bit his lip and reluctantly turned his back to the shape, beginning to walk away. As he did, though, a thought occurred to him. This was the Serperior River, and Pokémon falling in and drifting into this dungeon was not unheard of. Most times, they never made it out... so what if...

He looked back to the shape, which had passed him by this point. It twitched in its unconsciousness, only inciting further emotion. What if this wasn't a feral? Would he be responsible for a death if it wasn't?

"...no. Not again."

The Treecko sharply inhaled, hoping this wouldn't be a mistake, and dove into the river.


	2. From the River

…

…

_...wait, what? I'm alive?_

_**No, human.** _

_W-who said that?_

_**That is not of concern right now.** _

_...s-so I'm..._

_**Yes.** _

_..._

… _oh... is this heaven?_

_**No. I would more describe it as the space in between.** _

_Why am I here?_

_**I am to send you back to the realm of the living. However, before I do that, I wish to ask you a question.** _

_I... huh?_

_**What is it that you desire most?** _

_What?_

_**Fortune, perhaps? Notoriety? Power?** _

_What do y-_

_**A way to cheat death? A weapon to conquer your enemies? A way to avenge your falling race?** _

_I don't-_

_**What do you seek?** _

_I don't know, okay?! Just... I want the world to be a bit less of a shithole, I guess?  
_

…

_**I see.** _

_**I suppose I should be sending you off.** _

_**We shall meet again, child. Until then, may fortune be on your side.** _

_Wait, what?_

_**Farewell.** _

_No, wait...!_

* * *

_'Everything hurts.'_

That was all that ran through my head as I suddenly came to. I was vaguely aware of water running nearby and a pair of hands rhythmically pressing down on my chest, though I couldn't focus on those when my lungs felt like they were on fire. As the figure in front of me backed away, I hacked and coughed, water pouring from my mouth. The figure looked on as the last of the water dribbled from my mouth and I wheezed in much-needed air. Arms shaking, I pushed myself off the ground, only for my legs to betray me, sending me back to the ground. Panting, I looked around to take in my surroundings. As suspected, I looked to be in a clearing next to a river, and in front of me was a rather nervous-looking Pokémon slowly backing away from me.

 _'How... did I get here?'_ I thought as I tried to retrace my steps up to this point. I tried to dig for a minute before coming to a disturbing conclusion.

I couldn't remember anything.

Not even a name came to mind. All that came to mind was being attacked, getting poisoned, everything going black, a voice questioning me, and nothing more. Did I hit my head in the river? I... no, I died for sure. But how was I alive if that was the case...?

As I tried to keep myself calm, a voice brought me back to reality.

"A-are you okay?" it asked.

I jumped, looking around to try and find whoever was speaking.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you..." I snapped my head upwards as I realized that the voice was coming from the Pokémon above me, which I could now vaguely identify as a Treecko.

...wait, what?

Pokémon don't speak, do they?

_'...what the...?'_

I started trying to ask him how this was possible, but I quickly found the words couldn't come to me. In fact, I seemed to have forgotten how to even think in words, a series of frantic images and concepts replacing them. Instead of words coming out of my mouth, well...

"Shaaah?"

An animalistic cry escaped my lips. This only served to make the Treecko even more on edge, as he quickly backed away, swearing under his breath and looking ready to bolt at a moment's notice. I tried to hold my hand to my face in confusion, though I couldn't seem to manage it. As to why, a simple look down gave the answer: my arms weren't even long enough to reach my face. Rather, they had become short, stubby, and covered in white hair.

_'...what? I... wh-what the f...?!'_

Panicking, I tried to get up once again, only to fall over. Unfazed, I crawled over to the river to look at my reflection, then immediately stumbled back.

"S-sha?!" I yelped, terrified.

While I couldn't remember what exactly I looked like, I knew enough to say a white, furry, otter-like face should not have been looking back at me. I couldn't make myself out clearly in the water, but I could come to one conclusion.

Whatever I was, it wasn't human.

Watching me in my confused, scared state, the Treecko seemed to relent and started to slowly approach me.

"Um... y-you aren't gonna hurt me, are you?" he stammered. I looked up, my fearful expression slightly faltering. I couldn't even get myself off the ground and I could barely even tell what I was, and he thinks I could hurt him? Yeah, if only...

My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed the Treecko's surprised look.

"Y-you can understand me?"

_'Wait, I can? Come to think of it, I... uh...'_

How could I process what this Pokémon was saying if I couldn't even think in words? Honestly, I wasn't quite sure if I should be surprised by this of all things...

The Treecko waited for a second before seemingly having an idea.

"This for yes, this for no," he explained while nodding and shaking his head respectively. Unsure of what else to do, I reluctantly nodded. He let out a sudden victorious laugh, making me jump and upsetting my burning lungs in doing so.

"I... I, this... I can't believe it! A-an intelligent feral! The guild's gonna love this! I... I can finally make my own team! I can..."

He slowed down, seemingly remembering my presence as I tried to cough the pain away. The Treecko, a tinge of red on his face, cleared his throat as I managed to resume breathing properly.

"Uh... I guess I should introduce myself. Name's Rye, and, er, I'm an explorer!"

He gave a weak smile.

"Or, at least, I'm gonna be soon... do you have a name?"

I slowly shook my head no, my face wilting. The now-named Rye began contemplating.

"Oh, uh, l-let's give you one, then... I found you in the river, right? Maybe we could use that...?"

He looked like he was about to come up with something when suddenly, a rustling noise came from behind him.

"Sha!" I cried fearfully. Rye spun around, looking unsure of what was happening. A silhouette made itself apparent in one of the paths leading out of the clearing. Rye tensed up as I crawled behind him. I couldn't quite see what had appeared, but I did feel Rye relax as a voice rang out.

"Rye?! Is that you?!"

"Ms. May!"

Rye ran over to a fox-like Pokémon covered with leaf-like attachments, wrapping his arms around her.

 _'A Leafeon,'_ my brain told me. At least it wasn't completely devoid of info, I guess.

The Leafeon noticed me as more rustling began sounding from the path. As I watched, unsure of what to do, a large blue and red bird flew in, followed by a blue badger-like Pokémon. The Swellow and Quilava gathered around Rye as the Leafeon approached me, looking curious.

"I see you made a new friend while you were gone?" she questioned.

"Er, yes, ma'am, I saved him from drowning in the river just now." Rye answered as the Leafeon looked me over. At this point, the Swellow had caught sight of me and had begun staring at me, head cocked.

"Drowning? Odd for an Oshawott to be drowning..." she observed.

_'Oshawott? Is that what I am?'_

I continued to examine my unfamiliar body as the two kept talking. As I suspected, I looked no different from an average Oshawott, save for the signature scalchop on my chest.

_'How did this happen? Did that voice do this? Why...?'_

As I looked over myself, the Swellow cut in.

"It's feral, ain't it?" the Swellow asked with an accented but steely voice, eyes narrowing. "Just look at its posture. Doesn't look like it knows jack about groomin', either. Only a feral could pull that look off with a straight face," he said, staring straight into me. Rye's eyes widened as he tore himself from the Quilava's paws and stepped beside me.

"No, Mr. Pike, B-Beck's different! He can understand me, he's not... uh..."

_'Beck? Huh...'_

If I remembered correctly, it was a word meaning a mountain stream. I liked it. However, the Swellow didn't quite seem to feel the same way.

"Ya fuckin' _named it_?" Pike spat, feathers now expanding.

Rye shrunk back as the bird approached us. "I told you that ferals ain't to be trusted no matter what, and you've gone and made one your damn pet?"

The Quilava warily stepped in, nervousness on his face. "Now, Pike, we can discuss this once we've found Lotad's seeds. Besides, look on the bright side! It's the kid's first real mission and he's impressed on a feral! I've taught him well, eh, May?"

May didn't respond, seemingly focused on something off to the side. Pike glared at the Quilava, whose weak grin had melted away.

"I don't care if it can grant us eternal life, Arden. That doesn't change the fact it's feral. It's gonna raid our bags the first chance it gets and book it, I guarantee it. I advise the kid throws it back where he found it before it eats our eyes out."

Before Rye could speak up, Arden seemed to notice something and and gestured to May, who had gone still, her ears perked up.

"What?" Arden inquired.

"No sudden movements or loud noises. We need to get to the staircase, now. Pike, lead the way," May whispered. With a final wary look at Rye and I, Pike gestured to the path they had come from and began silently walking off. Arden, seemingly understanding something we didn't, followed him.

"W-what's happening, Ms. May?" Rye stammered.

May turned to us, fear apparent on her face.

"Keep Beck close and don't say anything. It's the Zubats. They're out hunting."

* * *

**Quinite Forest**

**6F**

"How much farther we got, Pike?" Arden whispered as we warily moved through the forest paths, occasionally pausing to listen for something.

"Half a mile, I'd say. Haven't seen any Zubats around, so we should be good for the time being."

Still trying to get walking down, I staggered along to follow the group, trying to not trip over myself. Rye, his hand clutching May as to not get separated from her, looked towards the trees nervously. Confused over the team's cautiousness, I pulled on his free hand.

"Sha?" I cried questioningly, hoping that would be enough.

"What's the matter?" Rye asked, clearly not getting my message. Trying to figure out how else to do this, I pointed to the ever-cautious adult Pokémon and gestured at the trees, giving a confused look as I did so. Rye cocked his head for a bit before his face flashed with recognition at my gesturing.

"Uh... Ms. May said there's a bunch of Zubats on this floor. The sun's going down, so they're all out hunting for prey. If they catch us, they'll-"

Rye stopped short as he realized the team had frozen, staring at a clearing up ahead. In said clearing, a bloated, purplish mass was lying on the grass, winged Pokémon covering it while chittering and making sickening slurping noises. May had her paw raised up gesturing us to keep still as Arden shook his head, obviously disturbed at the sight.

"It's the Sawsbuck from earlier. The fuckers poisoned it to death and now they're draining its blood. Poor bastard," he whispered.

_'Wait, that thing's a Pokémon?!'_

At that moment, I considered myself lucky to have not eaten anything. While I tried to keep my breathing steady as to not put my lungs through any more torture, May began to silently head into the clearing, much to Pike's horror.

"What are ya fuckin' doing?" he quietly demanded.

"The path on the other side is the only way to the staircase, right? Just stay close to the trees and keep quiet," she responded.

After much hesitation, the Swellow cursed to himself and followed. Watching them go, Arden turned to look at us, casting his uneasy glance onto me.

"Alright, Oshawott," he whispered, enunciating his words like he was talking down to a little kid. "You follow. You quiet. Yes?"

Although I was put off at his insistence to talk to me like that, I nodded, put my paw on him and followed him into the clearing, the slurps and gulps of the Zubats' meal not serving to ease the tension. About halfway to the path, a small yelp sounded from Arden. Lifting up his paw to find a small thorn in it, he then glanced back at the Zubats. They had stopped their slurping, and were now letting out high-pitched squeals and clicks, presumably to try and locate the source of the sudden noise. Panicking, I looked to Rye for advice, though all I needed was the Treecko's expression to figure it out for myself.

_'Stay still if you want to live.'_

A good few minutes passed, then the slurping resumed. Untold relief on his face, Arden gestured to us to keep moving. After that close call, it seemed all of us wanted out of this place as soon as possible, so it wasn't long before we had reached the path. As we hurriedly left the clearing, Arden let out a relieved chuckle. However, as we began to calm down, I stumbled, falling to the ground and snapping a few sticks.

_'Shit.'_

Looking up, I saw that one of the Zubats was now facing directly towards us, apparently having heard the noise. I tugged on Rye's arm, his looking back apparently alerting the others in the party. Their relief quickly turned into silent panic as the Zubat continued to stare.

_'Please. Please, I'm begging you. Don't.'_

Despite my mental pleas, the Zubat's face began to twitch...

...and it let out a long, bloodcurdling screech in our direction.

"RUN!" Arden screamed.

The dead Sawsbuck forgotten, the Zubats began to swarm towards us, drool pouring from their mouths in anticipation of their meal. We ran for our lives, not even bothering to keep quiet anymore. This only seemed to alert more of them, as dozens of the little demons started pouring out of the surrounding trees.

"Mr. Pike, can't you just fly us to the stairs?!" Rye screamed.

"I can't carry anyone but you, so unless ya want only the two of us to make it outta here, fuck no!" Pike replied breathlessly.

As they were talking, a large Zubat flock appeared out of the trees in front of us, diving in for the kill. May and Arden exchanged glances, quickly nodded, then began dashing ahead of us side-by-side.

"Alright, Team Apex, Point Forest tactic! Go!" Arden yelled. Pike perked up, then turned to the pursuing Zubats and flapped his wings, sending a blast of air at them and blowing them back through the path.

"That's only going to slow 'em down a bit, but that bit's all we need, I think," he hurriedly explained.

As the others charged, Arden's back burst into flames, which quickly covered the Quilava's body as he let out a battle cry. He jumped into the flock, distracting most of them as several leaf-like objects appeared around May and began to fly around her as she watched the flock warily. A burst of fire erupted from the blue mass as Arden ran out, bleeding in several places but still in fighting condition. Several of the Zubats, having caught on fire from his Flame Charge, flew away letting out horrific screeches. Seeing this, May sent the flying leaves at the remaining little demons. They began trying to flee, but the Magical Leaves seemed to follow them wherever they flew, quickly cutting them out of the air. Having finished her task, she ran over to tend to Arden's several bite wounds, despite his saying he was fine.

As I watched, I heard a scream from beside me. Quickly turning around, I saw that one of the Zubats had knocked Rye over and was now snapping at his neck. Eyes wide, I looked at the others. Arden and May were still busy up ahead, while Pike was still trying to hold back the approaching horde.

"Shaaah!", I cried fearfully, frozen in place at the sight.

_'What do I do?! I... I can't let him die!'_

Shaking my head, I watched Rye continue to struggle before coming to a decision: I charged towards him and tackled the Zubat. The good news was that my attack was able to knock the Zubat off Rye. The bad news was that I seemed to have angered it and it was now biting into my chest.

As my vision fogged, I saw a blur of green strike the Zubat, knocking it out as blood, presumably my own, dribbled from its mouth.

I weakly looked up as Rye, having dusted himself off after his Quick Attack, ran to my side, the others now gathered next to us. Pike was now panting, his energy spent by the Whirlwinds. It seemed that the Zubats were now closing in on us from both sides, their screeches growing louder by the second. It looked like we were out of options here, and judging by the glances Arden and May were giving each other, it seemed they agreed. The Quilava gave a final long look at the flocks before giving out a defeated sigh.

"Screw it," he said flatly. He dug through his bag before pulling a glassy blue sphere out and holding it high above his head.

"Activate!" he yelled. The sphere let out a blinding light as I felt myself get lifted off the ground. This feeling continued for maybe five seconds before I was thrown onto solid ground.

_'...are we out of the forest? Are we safe now?'_

I didn't have time to reflect on those questions any further, unfortunately, as the taste of blood began to fill my mouth. As my vision further darkened, I could vaguely see the team gathering around me, the last thing I heard before blacking out being Rye's desperate voice.

"Mr. Arden, get help! A berry, a healer, anything! ...h-hang in there, Beck! Don't die on me..."


	3. In This Together

" _...poisoned..."_

" _...lost a lot of blood..."_

" _...trying our best..."_

" _...he's moving, I think..."_

As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I could vaguely hear such discussions from the dark, fuzzy shapes standing over me. Often times I could vaguely make out Rye or one of the other Pokémon I'd met among the voices, though I usually fell unconscious again before I could actually make them out.

When I finally came to, the first thing that I noticed was that my throbbing chest appeared to have been tightly wrapped in gauze. I could still tell that it had been torn into, as was evident by the red staining the gauze, though it didn't feel as bad as it should have been. I mean, I was still alive, so I guess that should have been obvious. Allowing my eyes to adjust, I took a look at my surroundings. I was lying on an uncomfortably lumpy straw bed in a small room with a single window, twilight and the faint sound of talking seeping in. The only Pokémon in the room was Rye, who was sitting next to my little bed seemingly deep in thought.

"Sha?" I cried out weakly. Rye jumped slightly, snapping out of his contemplation. His slight panic was quickly replaced with relief once he noticed where the sound had come from.

"Oh! Uh... h-hey, uh, Beck. Good to see you're awake..."

With some difficulty, I managed to sit up as Rye sat down next to me.

"You were out for three days, we were starting to get worried. Uh, th-those bites were pretty deep, Ms. Audino said you're lucky to be alive..."

_'Three days? Lucky to be alive? What?'_

Rye, seemingly noticing my distress at the news, shifted in his seat.

"D-don't worry! M-Ms. Audino can help, you just need a few Heal Pulses, some Pechas, and a couple more days of rest, then..."

His enthusiasm wilted like a dying plant, for lack of a better word.

"...th-then we can send you back home..."

As he hung his head, a thought occurred to me. Rye didn't even know I didn't have a home. At least, not that I knew of. On that note, he didn't know of my being human... how would he respond to that? He had been so enthusiastic about me just being able to understand him, so what should I expect? Would he be excited? Upset? Angry? Before I could ponder on this, Rye looked up at me, sadness in his yellow eyes.

"Do you miss your family, Beck? A-are they smart like you?" he questioned.

A moment of silence hung in the air. The Treecko watched me, confused at my reluctance to answer.

"...is your family...?"

"Sh-shaah!" I cried out in frustration, pointing my tiny arms to my head in an 'I don't know' gesture. Thankfully, Rye seemed to understand this, at least.

"...uh, do you remember them?"

 _'Finally, we're getting somewhere.'_ I shook my head no as Rye's eyes widened.

"Do you remember... anything?"

Another shake no. Rye seemed to sink back into thought, now silently muttering to himself.

Another moment of silence passed as this continued, only to be interrupted by a large pink Pokémon walking in. The Audino seemed to light up at the sight of me.

"Ah, you're awake!" she exclaimed, approaching me with one of the feelers on her ears in hand. "I apologize for the suddenness of all this. You're in the infirmary of Arcanine's Guild in Impetus Town. Don't worry, it's not too far from Quinite Forest, we should be able to get you home once you're healed."

As I watched, unsure of what quite was happening, she pressed it against my chest. After keeping it there for a few seconds, she withdrew it, seemingly satisfied with whatever she had gotten from that, and turned to Rye.

"His heart rate and breathing are normal. The poison seems to have mostly worn off, and I expect that aside from the odd scar, he'll make a full recovery in the next week or so. Of course, there's the damage to his lungs from his near drowning, though he's a Water-type, I expect he'll shake it off. Are there any other anomalies I might not have picked up on?" Ms. Audino asked, picking up a pen and a piece of paper from a nearby table.

Rye swallowed, apparently nervous over having to play doctor for me.

"W-well, from what I've gathered, he doesn't remember anything from before I found him. Maybe he hit his head, that river _was_ pretty rocky."

Ms. Audino cocked her head, still writing. "Amnesia, huh? Nothing we haven't dealt with before, all you need is a good Psychic and some patience."

With that, she placed her pen down and started towards the door.

"Right, I'll go and tell your teammates that they don't have a fatality on their paws. I advise you stay with him as much as you can, seeing as you're the one who impressed on him. He needs someone he can trust to heal properly," she told Rye. As she walked out, she stopped, seemingly having remembered something.

"Oh, and Guildmaster Arcanine says he's interested in seeing you two in the coming days," she said. Rye let out a small 'eep!' as I felt him tense up beside me.

"You're not in trouble, he simply wishes to talk to the two of you. I mean, it's not every day you find a feral that can understand speech right away, is it?" Ms. Audino added with a small smile before turning to leave. As the sound of footsteps grew fainter, Rye, his eyes wider than ever, crumpled next to me, this time only muttering one easily discernible phrase.

"Oh, dear Arceus."

* * *

The world outside the hospital room's window had gone dark and quiet since Ms. Audino's visit. Rye was spread out on a bed that had been provided while I stared at the ceiling. For the first time since waking up by the river, I had time to think.

_'Is there anyone that can help me? Are there any human cities near here? Do humans even exist in this world? Will I ever be able to remember my past? Will Rye still accept me if he finds out I'm human? What about Team Apex? What would Pike do? Who was that voice? Will I ever hear it again? What does it want from me?'_

Such questions bounced around my mind until a voice cut into my contemplation.

"Hey, Beck. You awake?" Rye asked.

I shifted to face in his direction, wincing as my chest wound screamed in protest.

"I, uh... erm..."

He shifted in his bed, clearly tongue-tied.

"...t-thanks for saving me back there. Any longer and I... uh, you know. Guess we're, uh, equal now, huh? I... agh..."

Rye buried his face into his makeshift pillow, his hands on his head.

"Shaah..." I cried reassuringly. I reached to lay my paw on him, though found myself unable to. Finding Rye's eye on me, I found myself turning hot with embarrassment as well.

_'Curse my stubby arms!'_

Even through my limitations, Rye seemed to understand what I was going for, as I could make out a small smile coming from his mostly covered face. Another moment of silence passed before he spoke up.

"Beck? Since you can't remember where you came from, I was wondering... uh..."

I heard the Treecko shift.

"...you want to stay with me?" Rye asked quietly.

_'...do I really have any other choice?'_

So far, Rye was the only Pokémon I even really knew here, and judging from what I've seen, even if I did decide to run off on him, the world would probably be less than kind to a "feral" like me. The answer was obvious.

"Sha," I affirmed, giving a nod. Seeing this, Rye's face lit up.

"R-really? I... o-okay, alright..."

Rye steadied his breathing, giving a small laugh.

"I guess that makes us, uh, f-friends, right?"

I couldn't help but grin at the notion, giving another quick nod. I didn't know what I was like as a human, but I could assume I would have taken having someone by my side for granted. Here, having lost everything from my memory to my species, it felt good having something as simple as a friend.

"Hey, I have an idea. Since you're gonna be staying with me, I-I'm thinking I could try to teach you how to talk!" Rye piped.

"Sha?" I responded.

"Well, I mean, since you're understanding what I'm saying right now, you can't be too far off from it, right?" he reasoned.

He did have a point there, I must say.

I gave Rye another "Shaa!" and a nod. I couldn't tell if he was excited or nervous, but his smile at my response was enough to satisfy. As we noticed the chirps of Kricketots outside, though, our enthusiasm faltered as we realized just how late it was. After a moment, Rye straightened up.

"...uh, w-we can start tomorrow, I guess!"

With that, we quickly drifted off into sleep, hopeful and eager for whatever laid ahead.


	4. Pests and Patriarchs

"Alright, Beck, you ready to start?" Rye asked me, a thin book in his hands.

"Sha!" I exclaimed.

The noon sun shone brightly through the sick bay's window, the now familiar sound of exploration teams going about their day piping through. Following our agreement the previous night, Rye had managed to convince Team Apex to lend him a notebook to help me out. Apparently, only more well-off Pokémon could afford actual paper, so we were both a little puzzled as to why they had decided to give us a notebook full of it. Apparently, in Arden's words, it isn't every day you get chummy with a feral, now is it?

Fair point, I guess.

"Let's start with your name, okay?" Rye asked me. Another nod prompted him to pause for a second before hanging his head.

"...uh, come to think of it, I'm not sure how exactly you can just learn it... sorry, I'm a bit new to this whole teaching thing..." he sighed. "J-just try to copy what I say, I guess."

_'Okay, sounds easy enough.'_

As it turns out, it wasn't. Instead, we found ourselves making bizarre noises at each other for twenty minutes straight in the hopes I would get it right at some point. What fun.

"No, no, try to touch the top of your mouth with your tongue. _Beeeck_ ," Rye explained, putting emphasis on the 'ck'.

"Sheaagh."

"No, don't, uh, put your voice into that last bit. Do it like this. _Beck,_ not _Begh._ "

"Sh-sheaak," I managed out. Despite my still rather limited vocabulary, Rye seemed to be pleased with our progress.

"All right, you look like you're getting the hang of it! Now, let's-"

He paused as a small snicker sounded from the door. Turning our heads, we found Ms. Audino with the amused Arden and May standing behind her.

"H-how long have you been standing there?!" Rye choked out, his face reddening.

"Long enough, kid. Long enough," Arden said, still grinning. I swore I could see years crumble off the Treecko's lifespan as the two veteran explorers straightened up.

"Don't worry, that's not what we're here for," May said, turning to Ms. Audino, who was giving her usual warm smile.

"Guildmaster Arcanine says he wants you two in his quarters," the nurse said.

* * *

Seeing as I was still in no condition to actually walk, Arden had to carry me like a baby through Arcanine's Guild as our group, now including Pike, left the sick bay. Whatever dignity I had left from being spoonfed berry pulp that morning was lost right then and there, I think.

The Guild's headquarters was what I could best describe as a small village of its own. On the hill it was built upon, a grid of team housing, various utility buildings, a mess hall, and an amphitheater rested. From what I could tell, it was arranged in a hierarchy of sorts, the more important locations and teams being placed further up the hill, with an unassuming building I could only assume was Guildmaster Arcanine's quarters resting on the hilltop. The Pokémon I had only heard outside my window now walked beside me, heading out for lands unknown. Some looked at our little group oddly, exchanging whispers.

"Don't worry, it's just that Team Apex's a bit well-known, and, uh, that you're new here," Rye explained.

_'Please let it be that.'_

Thankfully, any unwanted attention was taken off my situation as an annoyingly high-pitched voice rang out.

"Hey-hey, if it ain't ol' Team Pixies!"

Rye immediately flared up, though was put down by a glare from May as we turned to find the source of the insult. Behind us, a Persian and Weavile sneered at our group, prompting an exasperated sigh from Pike.

"Glad you decided to show up, Team Asslick," Arden responded, a forced smile on his face. The Weavile snorted before... uh, what? One second, he was standing twenty feet away, the next he was standing next to Arden, clapping the annoyed Quilava on the back.

Okay, then.

"I see you've got the little squirt here with you, huh? Good to hear ya didn't get another one killed!" he hooted while gesturing to me. Rye and I recoiled as best we could while the Weavile laughed, his high-pitched tone still sending shivers down my spine.

The Persian, having caught up with the Weavile by now, gave a grin at Rye's confusion. "What, you surprised? Nothing goes on 'round here, news gets around fast, kid. Some little shit finding a feral and nearly getting its guts eaten out counts as good watering hole talk, I'd say!" he sneered. Rye's eye twitched as the two gathered around Team Apex, still laughing their ugly laughs.

Arden started trying to talk through the laughter. "Look, fellas, I'd love to talk, but we've kinda gotta get to Arcanine's and-"

"Ah, shit, Gold, ya hear that? They're still the old dog's little pets! Ain't that rich?" the Weavile wheezed. "Doesn't matter if they got fucked over in the woods, I guess, they're probably on their way over to compensate!"

"Yeah, one suck for each Zubat bite, eh? Where do you think the jizz goes, Mustie?" the Persian laughed.

By this point, May was summoning vines out of the ground to physically hold Rye back. I had never seen him actually angry before, and seeing the shy but good-natured Treecko I had come to know actively trying to attack Mustie the Weavile was... scary, to say the least.

"I advise y'all run along before the kid tears ya a new one," Pike said, watching the scene impassively.

"Yeah, what he said. Heck, we'll even let you know where we're going if you want to duke it out like the good old days. What do you say Bewilder Forest in three days, Mustie? You win, we buy you drinks; if we win, I don't think it matters. Arceus knows how many drinks you owe us by now," Arden offered, much to May's annoyance.

"Hah, you're on!" the Weavile snapped back as the two began weaving their way through the crowd, still laughing their heads off. A panting May finally let Rye go, who clawed at the air in the two's general direction. Pushing herself off the ground, May looked to me apologetically.

"Don't mind them, they're just Team Assail. Thorn in our side for fifteen years, let me tell you. They're all bark and no bite, so don't let them get to you, alright?" she told me. "...actually, thorn's too nice of a term. How about a massive, splintery stake?"

I let out a small laugh as Rye finally turned around to face us, having calmed down for the most part. We continued up the hill, Team Assail's cackling still echoing in the distance.

* * *

As it turned out, it wasn't the distance that made Arcanine's home seem small, it really was that small. I doubted it would be enough to house the powerful figure I had heard of, much less a regular Arcanine. Looking at Rye confusedly, he gave a nervous but reassuring nod as we went inside. Inside, several chairs and tables surrounded a ladder sticking out of the ground, presumably leading to the actual structure.

Climbing down, I found myself in a hallway with a large, circular room at the end. Many paintings hung along the walls of the hallway, depicting dozens of Pokémon standing in a row, which I guessed were the Guild's members throughout the years. I couldn't help but notice Rye looking in awe at one of the last twenty, depicting what looked to be a young Team Apex: a Cyndaquil and Eevee standing near the edges of the painting, the Eevee making Buneary-ears over the Cyndaquil. Standing center frame in all of the group pictures was Guildmaster Arcanine, wearing a confident smile.

_'...wait, aren't Arcanines supposed to be orange?'_

Either the pictures were faded somehow, or Arcanine was a golden-yellow color. Huh.

As we walked into the Guildmaster's room, I found myself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of... _stuff_ in the room. Littering the perimeter were piles of treasure and various unnatural-looking trinkets, most of which I could recognize as human artifacts. Among these seemed to be books, faded paintings, Pokéballs, shiny discs, strange metal hunks, and...

_'Is... is that a human skeleton?'_

Morbid, but sure, I guess.

"I see you like my humble collection?" a deep voice inquired. I jumped as a large shape stepped out of the shadows, looking at me curiously.

"G-Guildmaster Arcanine," Arden stammered, bowing his head.

The Arcanine, who, yes, did appear to be yellow, wore the same smile I had seen in all those group pictures as he sat down before us.

"I take it you've never seen a Shiny before, young Oshawott?" Arcanine asked.

"Sh-sha," I managed out. I honestly didn't know what to think. I mean, come on, piling his room up with all this had to occur to him as creepy at some point, right?

"Of course, I could say something along that line for you. A feral capable of linguistic understanding and higher thinking such as yours without prior teaching is rare, indeed," he responded. "Of course, that is beside the point, I should be getting to why I've summoned you all here."

His smile faltered.

"Firstly, I am rather disappointed. Given your past, I would assume retrieving a seed would be easy work for Team Apex. I can tell you, Mr. Lotad was not happy that no other teams would do it after your failure," he said. May began to speak up when Pike interrupted.

"Look, Sir Guildmaster, we would have done just fine if the damn feral didn't give us away!" he interjected, his feathers puffing out defensively.

"Sha?!" I replied, my paws twitching. He was pinning the whole blame on me? Talk about Tauros crap.

"I understand that, Pike. However, I do doubt the Oshawott was solely responsible for what happened. That does bring me to my next point, though. The feral... or Beck, as I've been told Mr. Rye here has named him, is of special interest to the Guild. As you know, the extension of knowledge is one of this Guild's primary goals, and having someone who could tell us what life within a mystery dungeon is like, or perhaps even share how ferals like him could gain such intelligence, would contribute to this goal greatly," Arcanine continued. As Pike tried to find a response, the golden dog turned to face Rye. "As such, I would like to ask the Treecko a question."

Rye, visibly shaking now, made a weak croak in response.

"Young Rye, how would you two like to establish an exploration team on this Guild?"


	5. Team Reach

"W-what?!"

"Shaah?!"

"The fu...?"

"Guildmaster, what..."

"Ya can't be serious!"

Such reactions sounded out from our group as Guildmaster Arcanine watched on. As our surprise wore off, a single question seemed to be in common between the five of us.

"W-why are you offering us... this?" Rye asked. Arcanine drew him close, inciting a small yelp from him.

"Young Treecko, I see potential in you and your friend. I have heard of your desire to officially work under my guild, and I think that if anything, it is worth trying. Besides, you wish to educate Beck here, do you not? I am an old Pokémon, and my best days of exploration are many years behind me, but even I can tell you that experience is the best teacher. So, will you take up my offer?"

"I... uh... y-yes, sir," Rye stammered, face pale.

With that, the Guildmaster turned to me, his intense eyes burning into mine.

"Sh-sha...?" I managed out as he approached me.

"What about you? If you were to accept, you would be dedicating your foreseeable future to exploration and helping others. Of course, this would mean most of your days on duty being spent in mystery dungeons. There is risk, but I have faith that you understand that, seeing as you likely grew up in one. Would you like to join Rye in this endeavor?" he questioned.

...did I really want to? I mean, here I am, in an unfamiliar body in an unfamiliar world with no memories to call my own, and before I know it, I'm being thrust into a life that, if past experience holds up, could very well mean my premature death. Images of having my chest torn open, the Zubat gazing through me with its eyeless face quickly began flashing through my head. Did I really want to go through that again, much less regularly?

As I winced at the painful memories, I caught a glimpse of Rye. Even through his fear, I swore I could see just the slightest bit of pleading as he looked back at me, as if begging me to say yes.

...did I really want to deny my friend his chance to follow his dream just because I was a bit scared I'd get hurt? Besides, if I came here for a reason, then if anyone's going to find it, it'd be an explorer...

_'...alright then. Here goes nothing.'_

I slowly nodded. Arcanine gave me another smile as Rye's eyes widened further.

"Very well, then. You two may go to Cinccino at the front desk in the coming days to register as a team. Tell her you have my blessing," he said.

"W-wait, what?!" Pike choked out. "I wasn't here to see Team Apex start, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't this easy! T-they need to prove themselves in the field, don't they?"

"As far as I'm concerned, they already have," Arcanine replied. Before Pike could respond, he turned to Arden, who promptly stood at attention. "I'd like to speak with you in private, Arden. The rest of you are dismissed."

I felt May pick me up by the scruff of my neck. Despite my protesting cries, she carried me towards the exit, a peeved Pike and a still shocked Rye following close behind.

* * *

The whining shape of Beck was pulled up up the ladder as the two fire-types in the room watched on. Now sure that no one was listening, Arden let out a small sigh.

"Really? You believe in the kid? That's the best excuse you could come up with?" he said. Arcanine looked over, a small amount of surprise on his face.

"It was really that obvious?" he asked.

"Well, if I remember correctly, believing didn't do jack back when we were just the little shits just in from Walrein's Guild, and to be entirely honest, you still aren't exactly the most generous Pokémon in the world. So tell me: why are you really doing this?" Arden inquired.

Arcanine paused for a moment before straightening up, the atmosphere in the room growing colder. "What I am about to tell you is of utmost importance and secrecy, and I am only telling you this because of your past service to this Guild. If I find you have told anyone of what I am about to tell you, there will be consequences. Understand?" he asked.

Arden swallowed hard before nodding. Arcanine continued.

"Rye says he found Beck without memories in the wild, did he not?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Does that perhaps sound familiar to you?"

"No, sir, why should it?"

Arcanine sighed before gesturing to a stack of books along the wall. Unsure as to where he was going with this, Arden picked up the top book before reading the title.

"... _The Journeys of Louie the Riolu_? This is a kids' book, Guildmaster, what does that have to do with anything?"

Arcanine waited expectantly. After a minute, Arden paused.

"... w-wait. Wasn't Louie a..."

The Quilava threw the book aside to investigate the others, eyes getting progressively wider as he did so.

"Sai the Charmander... Lee the Shinx... Amber the Chikorita... G-Guildmaster, you're not actually saying the Oshawott's..."

"A human? It is only a theory, an unlikely one at that, but it is worth looking into," Arcanine said.

A moment of silence passed.

"W-why are you telling me this...?" Arden asked.

"If I am correct in my assumption, then we might have a problem. Humans are only known to awaken as Pokémon during times of great peril for this world, as you know," Arcanine replied. "I want you to tell me should anything come up. Keep an eye on the two and pray that I'm wrong. Understand?"

"...y-yes, sir, I will."

Arcanine's warm demeanor returned as he gave Arden a grateful grin.

"Thank you. You are dismissed. Forever forward _._ "

The Quilava gave a shaky salute at the Guild's motto.

"Forever forward _._ "

* * *

"Ms. May, can't we do this tomorrow?" Rye asked pleadingly.

"No. There's a new wave of orders coming in tomorrow, you'd be a pile of bones before you made it through the line," the Leafeon snapped back. "Besides, might as well just rip the barb out."

Cinccino's office stood a couple Pokémon ahead of us. Sitting at the entrance to the Guild, there had been quite a line waiting for us when we had gotten here. Despite this, May had volunteered to stay and help us through, even when Arden had finally caught up with us. A half hour of waiting and complaining from both of us later, I wasn't sure she was very happy with herself about this decision.

"Next!" a voice called from the counter.

"About time," May muttered as we stepped up to the small shack. As would be expected from the Minccino line, there didn't seem to be a thing out of place through the window. Makes sense they'd put a Cinccino in charge of bureaucracy, I guess. Said Cinccino looked down at us with a cheerful smile.

"Good afternoon, what can I do for you?" she inquired.

"H-hi, Ms. Cinccino, w-we... uh, my friend and I would like to start a team," Rye stammered. Cinccino's smile faltered a bit, prompting May to step forward.

"Guildmaster's orders. I know they're young, but talk to him about that, I guess," she said.

Cinccino nodded before slipping a blank form out of the orderly stacks that adorned her desk.

"Alright, then, all I need is a team name," she said.

"Team Horizon," Rye said without hesitation, excitement eclipsing his nervous demeanor.

"Sorry, that's been taken," Cinccino said.

"W-what? Have you checked?" Rye asked.

"Darling, you have no idea how many new teams ask for Horizon."

As Rye's enthusiasm melted away, Cinccino pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over.

"Here's a list of available names. Take as long as you need," she said assuredly. Rye put the paper on the desk so we could both look it over. Unfortunately, any discernible text was just Torchic scratch to me.

...wow. Just wow. Whatever had sent me here hadn't even bothered to let me be able to read?

_'...FFFFF-'_

Letting out a frustrated cry, I pounded my paw into the desk, startling Rye. However, his alarm quickly melted away as he examined where my paw had landed: an apparent name sandwiched between scratched-out entries.

"Team Reach? N-no one's picked this?" Rye stammered.

"Chances are they have, it just looks like the last Team Reach didn't leave their mark," Cinccino explained. "If they had, it'd have been decommissioned so no one else could use it."

Rye brightened up. "Huh... I like it! N-nice job, Beck! You think we should take it?"

"Sha!" I exclaimed. In response, Cinccino took the list and began filling out the form. A couple of minutes went by before she suddenly slammed it down on the desk, sending the both of us jumping back and stumbling over May, who gave us a light Vine Whip in response. Seemingly ignorant of what had just happened in front of her, Cinccino set a large bag onto the counter.

"You're all set! Here's your Explorer's Bag! Hope to hear from you soon, Team Reach!" she piped. Rye, still rubbing where May had hit him, took the bag, uttered a quiet thanks toCMinccino, and joined us as May once again picked up by the scruff of my neck. I don't know why, but something about this made me deeply uncomfortable. Maybe it was because she was a grass-type carrying a water-type? Who knows.

Bag and me in hand, our little posse began the long walk back to the sick bay. On the way, I couldn't help but notice Rye digging through our new bag and pulling out a small badge. He stared at it, mesmerized, as a small group of Pokémon bumped into him on their way across the pathway.

"Shaah?" I questioned. Rye didn't raise his head as he responded.

"It's an explorer's badge. Officially says you're part of a team... I still can't believe I'm actually holding one..."

His concentration broke as he looked up at me, giving me an earnest look.

"T-thank you, Beck. I don't think I'd be holding this without you..." he managed out.

There, even with my internal voice screaming common sense at me, even with my chest still throbbing, and even with the lingering fear that I would die before learning anything about myself, I knew I had made the right choice.

_'Well... here's hoping I can act on that choice.'_


	6. Revelations

"Sha?" I concernedly called to Rye for what seemed like the tenth time that day.

Dusk had fallen over the Guild, and ever since we had returned from registration, Rye had been sitting on his bed, alternating between absentmindedly sifting through the contents of our new bag and staring off into space, deep in thought. In response to my cry, he looked up at me, his eyes still slightly glazed over.

"S-sorry, Beck... it's just I can't believe this is actually happening..." he said. "I asked Team Apex if I could apprentice for them six moons ago. All I wanted was a chance at being on a team, and look at us now..."

Another moment of his contemplation passed before he snapped out of his stupor and put his new badge down, standing up for the first time in hours.

"Alright, Beck, h-how about we keep trying to get talking down?" he offered.

* * *

"B... shaaak."

"N-no, don't hesitate, uh, make the two sounds as quickly as you can."

"B-b-sheeaak."

"T-try again!"

"B-shak,"

"Again!"

"B-beehak..."

Stressed over my repeated failures and Rye's increasingly persistent method of teaching, I groaned, putting my head on my bed. I was considering burying myself under the bed's straw before I realized something.

_'Wait... I did it?'_

As if to affirm, a whoop sounded from Rye as he pumped his fist into the air. Grinning, I joined in his enthusiasm with a small dance.

"Y-you did it! We're only gonna get better from here, I think! Let's try something else now, alright?"

With that, he pulled out Team Apex's notebook, handing it over to me.

"J-just draw whatever you want to know about and I can try to explain it! Y'know, anything on the map you don't know about or something you want me to explain. Maybe you'll pick up on a couple words!"

_'Something I want explained? About time...'_

I decided to start by drawing a crude, bipedal figure that vaguely resembled a human.

"Sha?" I asked, gesturing to the picture. Rye looked slightly confused, but seemed to get what I was going for.

"That's a human, I think...? Y-yeah, they used to rule this continent a long time ago, and the legends say they used to live side-by-side by Pokémon. They could apparently work together to take the world around them and do what a thousand Pokémon working together could only dream of doing. Mr. Arcanine says the ruins we'll be seeing once we start exploring were mostly made by humans. Mr. Pike once told me those legends about them visiting the moon were true, but I don't think..."

He trailed off as I pulled a map out of our bag. The map depicted two large landmasses sticking out from the bottom framing a single large island. Among the sea of writing, I noticed a star, seemingly showing the Guild's location. I gestured to said map, making a questioning cry.

"Are you asking where they live? Uh, humans haven't existed on the Gray Continent for a while. Mr. Arcanine says it's been centuries since the last ones left," Rye asked. "W-why are you asking?"

…

_'Might as well tell him now and get it over with...'_

As Rye watched, I pointed to my drawing, then at myself, repeating the process a few times for good measure. Around the fifth time, Rye seemed to understand.

"...Beck... are you saying you're...?"

I nodded. A look of fear and uncertainty quickly took hold of Rye's face, much like the one he had been wearing when we had first met, though whether this was because he believed me or just thought me as insane was unclear. Before I could say anything further, a presence in the door made itself known. Ms. Audino, carrying our dinners, stepped in, mild concern on her face. I could tell she had seen our exchange, though it seemed neither of us wanted to push it.

As the nurse left and we silently sat down to eat, I couldn't help but avert my gaze from Rye. I couldn't look him in the eye, not when he clearly wasn't sure what to think of me. I could tell he needed a while to think. I just hoped that that moment wouldn't end with my only bond in this world breaking.

* * *

"Hrm..."

Pressing one of her feelers against my chest, Ms. Audino gave me an intent stare, only breaking it when she withdrew the thing from my chest.

"Your recovery is going as expected. The poison's been neutralized, though the damage to your organs is still too great to have you going about unchecked. All in all, I suppose it'll be another day before you can get back on your feet," she informed me. "Just continue as normal, Treecko here will keep you company until then."

I failed to hide my pained expression as Ms. Audino left the room. In the corner of the room, Rye gave me a wary look, jumping and averting his eyes when I looked to him.

"Sh-sha?" I asked, only getting a small grimace from Rye.

"I-I'm... just let me think, alright?" he asked. My face only growing more pitiful, I reached for the notebook and tried to pick it up.

"Sha..." I said. Rye stopped for a second, clenching his teeth.

"L-later," he said. Before I could try anything else, he turned his back to me, muttering to himself. I could only stare in his direction as he let out a shaky sigh and put his hands to his head.

_'What have I done...?'_

* * *

Rye didn't know what to do.

Six days had passed since he had accidentally stumbled upon Beck. Six days since he had made his first true rescue. Six days since he had met the first Pokémon willing to even consider him as a friend in a long time.

He had been nervous about the Oshawott at first, though once he had saved his life in Quinite Forest, he had concluded that the feral he now looked after would be a good partner, possibly even a good friend.

_'Ha. There I go again, calling a feral of all things a friend. Isn't that pathetic? No wonder the other apprentices don't talk to me...'_

Rye had been content once Guildmaster Arcanine himself had given the two his blessing. For the first time in years, he had been hopeful that he could begin to bury the past and finally look towards the future.

Then Beck had dropped the Blast Seed that he thought himself as a former human.

Rye had heard the stories: the ancient precursors that once ruled this world, and those who would take on Pokémon form to save it. In a town like the one he had once called home, their legacy was hard to ignore; those same heroes had guided the world after their heroic deeds, leaving behind some of the core ideals of society. Although many dismissed the stories as mere myths, man was still respected, even feared among those Rye had known.

However, Rye had also heard the stories of those loose in the head, the normal Pokémon who were convinced they were human, the hundreds that had made a show of their apparent vision from a Legend and either ended up achieving nothing of their supposed grand goal or had gathered a following and led them to certain death in some dungeon.

Now, why Beck, a feral who would most likely have never heard of humans, would be one of them, he was unsure. Perhaps this was one of the tricks Pike had told him of?

_"The only reason a feral will not immediately attack you is for the explicit purpose of lettin' your guard down. Do not fall for their shit, kid."_

Beck was undeniably intelligent, something Rye was now unsure was a good thing. Perhaps this was a plot to take Ms. Audino's, nay, the Guild's supplies? Perhaps he was simply another pesky civilized 'mon that was to be left bleeding on the floor? Even now, could he drawing the weapon on his chest, rearing it back to gut him and-

His breathing now ragged, Rye snapped his head around. Beck still laid in his bed, looking at him pleadingly with his navy-blue eyes. Sighing in relief, Rye looked back towards the wall to keep thinking. What really nagged at Rye was that the possibility of Beck's humanity was more than zero. If he truly was what he claimed, then... what would that mean for him?

_'Why me? Why would I be the one to help? There's a billion better Pokémon out there, why me?'_

The more Rye thought, the more anxious he became. Eventually, he had to bury his contemplation in his mind, as he noticed he had done quite often in the past day. Not only did these thoughts simply stress him out no matter how he put them, they brought up painful memories of his childhood past.

_'Dill was always so fascinated with humans...'_

Biting back tears at the repressed memories, Rye stole another look at Beck. He didn't want this. Regardless of if Beck was a lunatic or a future hero, he didn't want this. Putting his hands on his head once more, Rye finally let the waterworks flow, quietly weeping as he tried to make sense of his situation. Through all of the paranoia and assumptions his overwhelmed mind mustered, he knew Beck only wanted someone to follow. He supposed that was the same for him, but he knew any confrontation would likely end in disaster. But he knew he would have to talk eventually...

_'...aaugh! I've paid enough for what happened, what more did I do to deserve this?!'_

* * *

"Easy, Beck, one step at a time," Ms. Audino cautioned me as I stumbled over myself, slowly ambling away from my straw bed. By this point, my wounds had healed to the point I could safely walk again. Steadying myself, I managed to make it to the other side of the room while she and Rye watched on. It had been two days since my confession to Rye, and true to Ms. Audino's word, it looked like all that was left from my near-death experience was a few ugly scars on my chest. Sure, I was excited to finally be walking again, but that was the least of my worries at the time.

In the day since Ms. Audino had last visited, things hadn't gotten any better. The few interactions we had were awkward and filled with paranoid looks; even his speech tutoring had taken a hit. I still learned a bit, but the energy was gone. Even if it got frustrating before, I'd at least have that frustration than whatever this was.

"It looks like you'll be able to walk unimpeded within a couple days' time. In that case, it seems my work here is done. You may leave tomorrow," Ms. Audino said.

"Sh-sha," I quietly thanked her.

As she left my room, I sighed, looking over at Rye. His face quickly shifted to that now-familiar uncomfortable look. A minute passed as he sifted through our bag, seemingly trying to occupy himself, much like he tended to do whenever I approached him now. Eventually, our gazes met.

"...w-what's up?" he asked slowly.

"Sha?" I questioned, a hint of sadness in my voice.

Rye shifted in his seat.

"...look, I-I'm not avoiding you, Beck. It's just..."

"Shaah?"

He turned to face me, his gaze darkening.

"I know what you're thinking. I just need another while to think. Just let me... agh..."

Rye's eye started twitching as I sat back down on my bed.

_'Just say it. You don't trust me, you don't believe me, you're gonna throw me back into the river; whatever it is, just say it, please.'_

"Sha, shaah..." I mumbled under my breath.

With that, Rye slammed his fist into the floor and quickly turned to face me.

"Look, just leave me alone for once, please!" he snapped.

A moment passed as he shakily panted, glaring at me.

"Sh-shrai..." I managed out. The Treecko's gaze softened at my attempted uttering of his name as I realized that I was trembling, my back pressed against the wall. As Rye seemingly began to recognize the extent of his outburst, I became vaguely aware of tears flowing down my face.

"B-Beck... I-I'm sorry, I..." Rye stammered out. He reached out to try to comfort me, but I winced back in response. Obviously hurt by this, he sat down and sighed.

"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't believe you, I don't think you'd have any reason to lie about something like that. It's just... it's been a lot to process, you know? Finding you, getting accepted into the Guild, you saying you're human... It's just... I-I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, but... uh..."

I relaxed a little, still wary of my partner. He just sat there for a while, occasionally mouthing to himself. Eventually, he seemed to muster up the courage to open up.

"I can't keep doing this. I mean, we're due to be sent out into the field once Team Apex gets through their mission in Bewilder Forest in a few days, a-and here I am burning bridges over this, of all things!" he said, giving a bitter chuckle.

"Sh-sha..." I stammered, only for Rye to hold his hand up as he turned to face me.

"I-it's time we set things right, okay? I've obviously been a terrible friend, and I feel like I at least owe you this. It doesn't matter if you're human or an Oshawott; from this point on, we're equals in this team: no more secrets or looking down on one another. From now on, we'll hold each other up: no 'mon gets left behind. From now on, no matter how ugly whatever's ahead looks, let's go together. What do you say, Beck?" he said, a sort of determined fire in his eyes. He looked at me hopefully as his spiel sank in.

_'...I... did that really just come from Rye...?'_

_'...doesn't matter. If he's sincere, then let's do it.'_

Wiping my moist face off, I pushed myself off the ground.

"Sha!" I cried affirmatively, much to Rye's joy. With a relieved laugh, he clapped me on my back. However, the next thing I knew, I was on the floor in a daze, Rye panicking over me.

"Sorry! F-forgot you're a water-type..."

As he reached down to help me up, he stopped when he noticed I had started chuckling (or as close to a chuckle I could make, at least). As he watched on, this escalated into full-blown laughter. Honestly, I hadn't actually had a good-natured interaction with Rye in two days, even this was good enough for me. Slowly, he joined me in my laughter, confusing many a passerby as we sat there on the floor, clutching each other and savoring the moment.

If this was the fresh start that Rye had promised, then I'd say it was a pretty good one.

Still hurt, though.


	7. Setting Out

"Alright, kid, rise and shine."

Rye shifted in his bed, blinking the drowsiness out of his eyes. As he gained his composure, he realized that he and Beck were not alone in the room. The three Pokémon of Team Apex stood at the door, seemingly fully equipped for a long journey.

"Wh-what are you...?", Rye groaned.

"The Bewilder Forest dive's today.", May said. "Don't you remember?"

As Rye blinked, he remembered the team's plans. He had been so eager to go on that trip before he had found Beck, but he had put that aside once this had all started. Even if he were planning on going anymore, it seemed like any hope of that had been snuffed out once the two of them had formed Team Reach.

Rye cocked his head confusedly. "W-why are you..."

A small murmur sounded from beside him. Beck had seemingly not been affected by the wake-up call and was still soundly sleeping, shifting occasionally in his dreams. Rye nudged the Oshawott, but to no avail. He turned to Team Apex for help, but noticed Arden and May now whispering to one another, mischievous grins growing on their faces as Pike shrunk back and watched interestedly, obviously knowing something Rye didn't. The two pulled a small seed out of their bag, then as Arden aimed to throw it at the room's center, May apologetically looked to Rye.

"I advise you step back and cover your ears. Even a Blast Seed this small can get pretty loud."

* * *

…

_W-wait... this place again..._

_**I am glad to see you at least remember that much.** _

_Y-you?_

_**I do not have much time, child. Continue as usual, but when the time comes, the signs will show themselves. When they do, be ready to stand for what you believe in, no matter the cost.** _

_What? What does that even mean? Who are you? Why am I here? Why did you-_

_**I cannot remain. Farewell.** _

_No, don't-_

* * *

BANG!

I shot out of my bed like a startled Pidgey, screaming as I landed on the floor and scampered backwards into the wall. As my head cleared, the sound of uproarious laughter made itself known. Looking up from my fetal position, I found three things: one, Arden, May, and Pike all busting a gut at me; two, Rye looking horrified at whatever had just happened; and three, a smoking crater in the middle of the wooden floor.

"D-did you see his face?" Arden wheezed. I shakily stood up, putting on as angry of a face as I could make. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to come across as very intimidating, as it only made the three laugh harder.

As they settled down, Rye cleared his throat, questioningly pointing at the hole in the floor. Stamping out the small fire started by the explosion, May began staring intently at the crater. As she focused, several thick vines burst from the sides of the hole, eventually weaving together to fill it, replacing the blown-away wood.

_'Well, that's convenient.'_

Arden turned to us, still looking quite amused.

"Sorry, it's just that now that you're officially on this Guild, you've gotta go by our schedule," he said. "Besides, it's good nature to mess with guildmates. You'll understand soon enough."

At that moment, Rye stepped forwards, dusting himself off.

"O-okay, Mr. Arden, why are you all in here if you're supposed to be going to Bewilder Forest?" he asked.

"Well, obviously, you're coming with us!" Arden piped.

"W-what?! Really?!"

"...sha?"

Arden beamed, adjusting his bag on his shoulder while May cleared her throat.

"What he means to say is that you'll be accompanying us on our way to the forest. Bewilder Forest itself is too dangerous for rookies like you two, but the ride there should be more manageable. It'll be good training for the two of you before you start going on real missions," she reassured us.

"Th-the ride over there? How would flying...?" Rye asked after a moment.

"Haven't you been reading the notice board, Rye? There's a thunderstorm happening over the area. We don't have an Electric or Ground-type to be our lightning rod, and we don't plan on gambling our lives with Thundurus anytime soon," May responded.

We both looked on confusedly as Arden unfolded a map, tracing his finger along a long line snaking westward, only stopping to tap a small spot on the western half of the central island.

"That's Bewilder Forest there. As you can see, the Serperior River gets about a day's walk away from it there," he explained. Understanding dawned on us as the Quilava shivered.

"Never did like taking a boat."

* * *

Panting heavily, I trudged along the worn path from Impetus Town towards an unclear destination. My chest had certainly healed by this point, but seeing as I hadn't actually walked in four days, not counting my down time, it was my legs' turn to scream in protest as I tried to keep up with the others. Arden and May walked on just up ahead, seemingly unfazed by the thirty-minute uphill climb, as Pike flew ahead, keeping lookout for any potential landmarks. Rye, meanwhile, was in a similar state as I, slowly climbing yet another hill in the road.

"M-Mr. Arden, why aren't we just g-going straight to the river?" Rye gasped, sweat beading on his head.

"If you have a way to send a boat over Bibarel Dam without blowing the thing up, I'd love to hear it," Arden responded. As I groaned exhaustedly, a call sounded from above. Pike was signaling to our group, pointing ahead to a coastline in the distance. Was it...?

_'...yes! Finally!'_

With newfound energy, I began bounding ahead. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far before falling flat on my face. Guess I still didn't entirely have walking down.

I ignored the looks the others gave me as I focused on the sight ahead: a tall lighthouse standing atop several docks, many of which had rafts and boats of varying sizes occupying them. As we approached the port, a fluttering noise sounded from overhead as a Pelipper flew over, giving a quick salute.

"Always a pleasure ta see you lot 'ere! What can oi do for ya, lassie?" he boomed while lightly nudging May, who rolled her eyes in response.

"We just want a boat to get us to Bewilder Forest, Cap'n Brine. Don't give me any of that," she said flatly.

"Bewilder, eh? Not exactly a walk in the meadow, there. Ye sure ya don't a _guide_ or sumthin?" the Pelipper responded, giving a quick wink.

"We're fine, thank you," Pike quickly butted in, having landed just in time to see the captain's flirting. The Pelipper gave a jovial chortle.

"Confident as always, oi like it! Take the one in numbah 14. It'll be 200 Poké, 1,000 if ya lose her; just leave the payment before ya go. Be careful, now, there's a mighty nasty storm upstream, it'll do ya in if you aren't ready! Happy trails, an' don't be 'fraid to visit if ya ever feel it, lass!" he said before flying away, disappearing behind the lighthouse.

"Nice guy," Rye observed. May turned to him, exasperation clear on her face.

"You have no idea," she said through clenched teeth.

* * *

"Alrighty, dock 14! Look at this beauty!" Arden exclaimed. We stared at the raft, unimpressed. Sure, it had enough room for all five of us and more, but that was about it. Whether it was worth 400 Poké, I couldn't tell.

"How are we supposed to go upstream with this thing?" Rye asked confusedly. Seemingly on cue, a Wartortle poked its head out of the water.

"Afternoon. I'll be pushing this thing today," he said before dipping his head back underwater. Rye and I exchanged glances as Team Apex loaded their bag onto the raft. As we did the same, I heard Pike exclaim.

"Ah, shit, I think I left my Sharpbeak over at payment. Mind if I go over and get it?" he asked.

"Go ahead," Arden said, still checking his bag.

"Thanks." The Swellow turned to me, narrowing his eyes. "Come on, kid, I can explain how it works to ya," he said.

His tone of voice implied that this wasn't a request, so I hesitantly followed. The two of us headed back into the port, walking for a couple minutes before stopping short. Sighing, Pike held up his talons, revealing a previously hidden necklace with a detached beak strung to it. Putting it around his neck, he turned to face me.

"Alright, look. I'm willin' to accept you've got some brains. I'm willin' to accept that the kid sees ya as a friend. I've been doin' a bit of thinking over the last few days, and I've decided. I ain't gonna stop ya from sticking with the kid," he said calmly. His demeanor quickly shifted as he glared at me.

"However, when it comes to it, you're still a feral. You're all the same. You'll go after a lost baby bird fresh outta the nest if it means a quick lunch for ya, won'tcha?"

"Sh-sha..." I fearfully managed out as he continued.

"Like I said, I ain't gonna try to throw ya back into the wild, but hear this."

He leaned in close, prompting me to fall over backward. He inhaled sharply, his loathing glare intensifying.

"You try and hurt any of my friends, I'll make sure you don't get to tell the tale. Understand?" he spat.

I was frozen in place, gaping at the bird.

_'Did he really just...?!'_

Presented with no other option, I gave a shaky nod, prompting Pike to back away, his air of anger dissipating. He gave a simple nod of acknowledgment and began back the way we came. Still shaken, I hurriedly followed.

* * *

"H-hey, Beck, what's the matter?" Rye asked. Ever since we had returned, I had been sitting on our raft's side, staring blankly into the water and occasionally glancing at Pike, who had returned to his usual business, though he occasionally sent me a wary look.

"Sh-sha," I said, shaking my head. Rye's face grew more worried, but he obviously decided not to push it. As he sat beside me, a bell sounded from the dock, courtesy of a Wingull. With a quick Steel Wing, the Wingull sliced through the connecting rope, which was quickly followed by a sudden lurch as we embarked. With nothing else to do, Rye and I stayed on the raft's edge, watching the harbor as it slowly disappeared below the horizon.

"You nervous, Beck?" Rye asked after a while. I gave a quick nod, getting a small laugh out of Rye.

"Don't worry, so am I," he said sheepishly.

With that, we resigned ourselves to watching the calm waters as our raft lazily trailed along, slowly drifting into the unknown.


	8. A Peaceful River Cruise

It was a hot day on the Serperior River as we glided along on our raft, thankful for the clouds now rolling in. With nothing more to do but listen to Team Apex talk and sing, Rye and I had decided to try and converse. Seeing as I now had time to think about the day's prior events, my dream in particular, I had decided to try to talk about that. However, I had found that trying to communicate via playing charades was easier said than done.

"Uh, you're hitting your head?", Rye asked as I tried to lay my head down. I shook no.

"Y-you're sleeping?"

I nodded before tapping my head.

"You're... uh, having dreams?"

"Shyaah," I affirmed. Rye glanced over at the others before leaning close.

"You think they have anything to do with you being... y'know, a human?" he whispered. I nodded slightly. We sat there in thought for a while, watching the water flow behind the raft.

_'Who was that voice? Why did it send me here? Why can't it just explain what is even going on?'_

We were pulled out of our collective contemplation by the laughter and singing of Team Apex continuing to pierce our ears. Turning, I found Arden and May engaged in a duet as Pike watched impassively.

"Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever! Noble white, noble white, bless our homeland forever..."

What I could only presume to be an old human song trailed off as May turned to Pike.

"Come on, Pike, what's the matter? You were the one who discovered this song, right? You might as well step up and sing along, you've been like this the whole trip!" the Leafeon laughed. Pike simply huffed in response.

"Not feelin' it today," he mumbled, sending a glare my way. May cocked her head, as it seemed this behavior was uncommon from the Swellow.

"Alright, then, ol' Fuss and Feathers. Guess we'll kick the kids into gear," she said as she turned towards us. The two of us scrambled up as she and Arden looked us over.

"Okay, how are you in a fight, Rye? What was the last technique you learned?" Arden inquired.

"Oh, uh... i-it was when I learned to Quick Attack two weeks ago in Amber Meadow," Rye said, standing as straight as he could.

"Hm, alright. We can work with that. What about you, Beck?" he asked me.

_'...techniques? Uh...'_

I shook my head confusedly. An awkward moment of silence passed before Rye suddenly perked up.

"H-hey, there's a Wartortle pushing this boat along, right? Maybe he could help?"

May thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, there is. Good thinking, kid," she said, getting a blush from Rye. Arden approached me as I looked on, unsure of where they were going with this.

"Did you know that most water-types with lungs can hold their breath underwater for an hour at a time?" he asked. Still wary but impressed with this factoid, I shook my head.

"Well, now you do. In you go!" he exclaimed.

Before I could even process what he meant, I found myself being thrown over the side of the raft and into the cold water of the river. Panic quickly set in as I remembered how I had nearly drowned not quite a week ago. As such, I began thrashing around, waving my stubby arms in a vain attempt to get to the surface. However, I quickly found myself calming down, my flailing slowly turning into an orderly, methodical beating of my tail propelling me through the clear water. Something about the river's currents flowing around me, the cool feel of the water, and the underwater environment around me felt right somehow.

Before long, I found myself swimming after the raft's dark shape as if I had been doing so for years. I breached the surface behind the raft, letting out a joyful cry as the others watching breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. Rye, who looked to have been restrained by May for obvious reasons, gave a laugh and waved at me as I dived back under, intent on learning more about what I could do from our guide. If I could go from near drowning to this in a matter of minutes, what else was I capable of?

As expected, I found our Wartortle guide under the raft, almost skipping along the riverbed and apparently using some water-type technique to push the boat upstream. Pausing to drink what I now recognized as an Elixir, he took notice of my approaching.

"What brings you down here?" he asked. I quickly noticed that his voice traveled through the water as if it were air. I wasn't about to question the inner workings of a system I didn't even begin to understand, but it was still worth wondering about.

"Sha, shaah," I said. The Wartortle cocked his head.

"What, you can't talk? I'm guessing you're one of those impressed ferals, huh?", he asked. "Never thought I'd see one in the flesh. I'm guessing you're down here to get a pointer or two?"

"Shyeeh," I said. The Wartortle gave a small smile at my attempted answer and looked at me, still guiding the raft along as we swam up the river. "Well, alright then, wouldn't be the first time. I'll be your instructor today, I suppose. Call me Bert. Now then, you know your tide, right?"

_'My what?'_

Bert seemed to catch wind of my cluelessness rather quickly.

"Okay, how to explain this... uh, every Pokémon has a sort of inner core in them. It's like a well of energy they can draw from whenever they need it. Using a technique is releasing that energy in a specific way. Different types have different cores: Fire-types have their inner ember they draw fire from, grass-types have their inner flora they can use to draw energy from the sun and such, so on and so forth," he explained, giving a knowing smile.

"We water-types have our inner tide. You feel it, don't you? Pushing, pulling, flowing with the water?"

Now that he mentioned it, I did notice it: a tugging feeling in my gut, seemingly moving in harmony with the water around me. I gave a small smile; it felt good.

"Alright, I suppose that's yes, now try to grab a hold of some of that energy," Bert instructed. I tried to focus within myself, mentally grabbing at that feeling. Several minutes passed before I felt a change: the feeling suddenly shooting up through my body.

"Sh-sha!" I yelped in surprise. Bert looked over from his work and gave me a reassuring grin.

"Looks like you got it. Now try to direct that energy out of your mouth," he said.

"Sha?!" I asked, not expecting his instruction.

_'He wants me to vomit this stuff out?'_

"You're really doubting the 'mon with experience here? Out your mouth, let's go!" Bert said, clapping his hands together. I hastily did as instructed...

...and immediately got blown back several feet. As I panickedly tried to right myself, I heard Bert laughing and giving a small round of applause.

"That was a Water Gun, there! Felt it brushing past me, not too bad for your first try! You'd best focus on making sure you don't blow yourself back in the future. Not sure that'd do much good underwater, though, using most water-type moves in combat down here is about as useful as screaming at someone on land and hoping they'll fall over," he explained.

As I contemplated Bert's info with wonder, a small burst suddenly broke the smooth peacefulness of the river's flow, sending both of us stumbling in our swim.

"Looks like we've got some turbulence coming up. Go on back up, practice your Water Gun, and tell your friends that Bert the Wartortle taught you that!" he instructed me.

Giving him the most sincere cry of thanks I could, I swam back up, breaching the surface and landing on the raft's edge. I was immediately bombarded with enthusiastic greetings, concerned yells, and relieved affirmations of my safety from the rest of the group, a grinning Rye coming forward and clapping me on the shoulder. While it didn't hurt as much as last time, I still winced. Ignoring this, May cleared her throat.

"Good to see you're up, kid, now hold on to something," she said hurriedly. Rye's eyes widened as he seemed to remember the weight of the moment. Oblivious as always, I cried questioningly.

"Remember that storm Cap'n Brine mentioned? Well, um..."

She paused before gesturing ahead. A thick, dark gray cloud was drifting in our direction, occasionally flashing with lightning. What was worse, the once calm river now seemed to be growing more violent by the second as our raft began to rock. As Pike sheltered himself from the oncoming lightning, Arden let out a very unprofessional-sounding yelp.

"We, uh, don't happen to have a Drought Orb, do we?" he nervously asked May.

"Those only work in mystery dungeons, you dolt!" May yelled back.

"Th-this river connects to Dustbowl Savannah, doesn't it? We can-"

"Yeah, throw out one problem, replace it with another!"

"No, I'm just-"

"We have to land this thing! Wartortle, can you hear me?!"

Arden tried to argue, but fell over as the raft lurched to the side. Looking around frantically, something caught my eye: a massive wave barreling down the river straight towards us.

_'We aren't moving fast enough, that thing's going to overtake us.'_

I looked to Arden for help, but he didn't seem to be paying me any attention. He was now trembling, his gaze transfixed on the wave. I nudged him, trying to snap him out of it, but to no avail. The Quilava, paralyzed with terror, made a noise I could only presume was a half-formed scream. With no other options, I decided on a desperate plan. I looked at Rye apologetically as the raft continued to thrash around.

"B-Beck! What are you-"

Rye didn't get to finish as I let myself fall backward into the raging waters. Even with the currents around me threatening to break something, I regained my composure and began trying to push the raft to shore.

"Kid! What're you doing?!" the familiar voice of Bert screamed. I tried to yell back at him, but was quickly discouraged by the observation that I wasn't making any progress.

"Shaagh!" I yelled in frustration. Thinking fast and ignoring Bert's protests, I surfaced, pressing up against the side of the raft. The killer wave wouldn't be long now, so if I didn't manage this...

Mustering up all the energy I could gather from my inner tide, I shot as powerful of a Water Gun as I could facing away from the riverbank, speeding the raft up slightly. The now muffled yells of Bert quickly ceased, the telltale lurch of the raft accelerating indicating he understood my plan. My Water Gun was likely weak by most standards, but it was apparently just enough, and I felt sand scrape under my feet mere seconds before the tidal wave roared by. I would have been washed away had it not been for Rye grabbing me and pulling me to safety.

Exhausted by my efforts, I collapsed to the ground. Taking a quick look at the party, it looked like everyone was safely aboard the beached raft, Bert included. Arden, his eyes still glazed over, was looking the worst off, though it seemed May was already taking care of him. As Oran juice dribbled into my mouth, I finally allowed my beaten, aching body to relax. While it had been a productive day on the Serperior River, I was honestly just glad it was over. All I hoped was that the rest of the journey wouldn't be as turbulent.


	9. There and Back Again

"How much longer do you think...?" Rye asked meekly.

"Judging by how the wind's comin' at us and how nasty that lightning's lookin', I'd say well into tonight," Pike replied.

Cowering in our makeshift shelter consisting of a burrow dug under our beached raft, our group definitely wasn't in an enviable position. Since we had landed an hour prior, we had found several items had been lost to the torrent, had to deal with two incapacitated team members, and had just barely saved our bags from the mud flowing in from above. Arden appeared to have recovered from his paralyzed state, though he hadn't said much of anything and jumped at sudden noises. Bert had resigned to his shell in the corner, and the rest of us were huddled against each other in the small space, trying to stay warm.

Not exactly what I would call a very smooth first outing, if I do say so myself.

_'Well, at least it couldn't possibly get-'_

"Priiii!" a shrill voice screeched. A Patrat had made its way into our shelter seeking refuge from the rain, and judging by its unkempt claws, its matted fur, and the fact that it was hissing at us from the entrance, I could assume that it was feral.

"Everyone stand back," Pike whispered, approaching the Patrat. May sent an angered whisper his way. Though I couldn't hear it over the heavy drumming of rain over us, it was apparently enough to turn Pike around.

"I know what I'm doin'. It's just a Patrat. I'm not about to tear this place up," he said.

He began flapping his wings, trying to shoo the feral away. All he got in result was hissing and spitting from it. Narrowing his eyes, he began expanding his feathers, lowly growling and staring the rodent in its red and yellow eyes in an attempt to intimidate it.

"Ya see? It's startin' to-"

"PRIIIIIIII!"

Pike screamed in pain as the Patrat sank its teeth into his leg. His shock quickly turned to rage as his wings began to glow with energy. May tried to stop him as he let out a yell and reared them back.

"Wait, Pike, don't-"

The Wing Attack struck the Patrat directly on the head, lodging it several inches into the floor. However, it also hit the muddy ground, covering everything and everyone in the shelter in mud. Pike stopped caressing his bleeding leg long enough to look up at us, his eyes wide.

"...S-sorry 'bout that. I was aimin' for the door," he stammered.

_'Damn you, fate.'_

Bert groaned from inside his shell, having heard the whole thing, then popped his head out and started hosing off our filthy party. Arden, already taken aback by his faceful of mud, yelped and tried to make for the entrance, but was discouraged by the rain just long enough to get sprayed. Although now clean, he was apparently peeved enough that flames somehow erupted out of his dripping back, giving us a sweet moment of warmth.

"If someone dies out here, I entirely blame you, Pike.", Arden growled as he retreated back to his corner. We sat in silence as May threw the unconscious Patrat outside, listening to the storm rage outside. Eventually, Bert straightened up.

"Hey, kid. Mind if I talk to you about what you did back there?" he asked.

I shifted in my seat, still too spent to actually stand, wondering what he had to say.

"That Water Gun was honestly pretty sloppy."

My face fell.

"From what I can infer, you didn't focus it at all, it wasn't consistent in the slightest, and it honestly would have annoyed a good opponent at best."

"Sh-sha?!" I yelled, my eye twitching. Seeing this, he flashed a smile.

"Just saying. In all seriousness, though, you did good. From what the Treecko told me, you know from experience that this river doesn't tend to play nice. We definitely wouldn't have made it through had you not stepped in," he mused, putting a paw to my shoulder.

"Thanks, kiddo."

Bert paused before he laughed a bit.

"Kyogre's balls, you saved my ass and I never even got your name!" he chuckled, looking at me expectantly.

"Behck," I managed. From the corner of my eye, Rye gave me a proud thumbs-up. While the two days where Rye had avoided me had been joyless at best, I had made a fair amount of progress in learning to speak. Bert nodded in understanding.

"Like a brook on a mountain? Fitting," he said. He sat there in silence before his head whipped towards me, his eyes wide.

"Ah, so you can speak!" he proclaimed. Arden turned from his drippy sulking and smirked.

"He's deceived you up to this point, now he's gonna murder us all in our sleep. Repent, ye sinners!" the Quilava said, dramatically raising his paws in the air.

Even Pike joined in as the group shared a small laugh, the Wartortle retreating into his shell in mock fear.

_'Well, at least this isn't all bad, I guess.'_

* * *

As far as I could assume, the moon was high in the sky, and the rain had thankfully subsided from a relentless downpour to a mild drizzle. My exhaustion from my earlier feat had prompted me to turn in early when night had come. Unfortunately, this had come with the unintended side effect of me waking up in the middle of the night. The loud snores of the others and the sound of the rain meant that I was unable to go back to sleep, so I had resigned myself to lying there and listening to the ambient noise. Easier said than done, seeing as I had to lie against a hard dirt wall. Thankfully, the entrance had been shut so no water or ferals could get in. Currently, I was rubbing a small hard spot on my chest. The beginnings of a scalchop, I guessed. As I began imagining what I could do with such a weapon, a groan sounded from elsewhere in the burrow.

"Ngh..."

I jumped at the sudden noise. Trying not to panic and wake the others, I started looking around for the source of the noise.

"N-no..."

Small bursts of orange light began flashing from the other side of the burrow. It seemed Arden, now thrashing in his sleep, was the one mumbling. His kicking woke May with a start, who looked at Arden wide-eyed.

"G-go... I'll f-find a way... aaagh..."

May reluctantly conjured a vine from the floor and whipped Arden on the arm. He woke up with a loud gasp, causing the others to stir. Panting shakily, he noticed May watching him concernedly. He hung his head.

"I-I had the nightmare," he whispered. May narrowed her eyes.

"Nightmare...?"

"Yeah. Can't move, someone's crying over me, big wall of water. That one."

May gasped slightly.

"I don't know if it was what happened on the river or something else that brought it up, but... agh..."

Arden grasped his head as May put a paw on his shoulder.

"If the nightmare's really coming back, then maybe it's best if you go ask Alakazam about it?" she asked. Arden huffed.

"I'm fine."

"Like fine fine or Bonechill Chasm fine?"

"Look, I'm a fire-type, I would have-"

"Your toes were maybe an hour from falling off, Ardie."

A moment of silence persisted as I laid there, staying still as to not arouse attention.

"Look, I'll give you time to think it over, then we can talk about with Pike it once we have more... ahem, privacy," she said, gesturing to Rye and I. Arden thought for a minute.

"Y-yeah, that sounds fair.", he whispered. May nodded and curled up beside him.

"Alright, I've done my part, I'm going back to sleep. G'night _,_ Ardie."

Arden snorted in response to the nickname.

"Night, Mayday."

Snores quickly began sounding from the two of them as I laid there, not quite sure what I had listened in on. Dreams? Alakazam? Privacy? I didn't know why, but I felt like I had just listened in on some kind of terrorist plot or something. However, even with that on my mind, my body eventually managed to pull my confused self into sleep, where dreams of raging rivers and screaming Patrats awaited me.

* * *

"B-Beck?"

I groaned as I slowly came to, rubbing the gunk out of my eyes. Standing over me was a very worried-looking Rye, glancing over his shoulder at the open door.

_'...wait. The open door?'_

Indeed, the door to the burrow had been opened, giving clear light to a few things. Everyone except Rye and I was gone, and there were unfortunately familiar voices faintly yelling at each other from the nearby woods.

"It ain't my fault we're stuck out here! _'Ooh, it'll be fine, Mustie! Flyin' in a thunderstorm will be a perfectly fuckin' fine idea!'_ That's what you said, ain't it, Gold?!"

"Well, I at least tried to talk the Altaria down! You were the one who Ice Beamed her in the face when she landed!"

A moment of silence passed before we heard rustling heading towards us from the brush.

"...alright, that's fair, I guess. Forget that Team Apex crap, I ain't riskin' it. We can do something else with our time besides fuckin' dying, the Quilava can kiss my ass for all I care. I hear water this way, maybe-"

The two emerged from the woods, stopping as they saw our beached raft. Mustie snorted to himself.

"Well, that's convenient. Guess whoever left this here got fucked in the storm. Here, help me get it back in the water," the Weavile said. Rye and I shrunk back as the two approached the burrow. Quickly discovering the entrance, Gold peeked in. The Persian recoiled in alarm, alerting Mustie. They quickly got over their shock and jumped inside.

"Hey, it's you little squirts! I assume those dickheads left you here? Trust me, we feel your pain," Mustie laughed. "Come on out and help us push this thing into the river."

"L-leave us alone, we don't-" Rye began.

"Didn't you hear him? We're takin' this thing, it's best for both parties here if ya help," Gold said, his tone far less diplomatic. The two of us shrunk back, prompting a groan from them.

"Alright, we'll do it ourselves, then. Try to stop us and we'll throw you both into the river. Now get out unless ya want a concussion," Mustie growled. Before we could do anything, the two had grabbed us and dragged us outside kicking and yelling. As we were thrown to the ground, a caw sounded from above. Gold and Mustie froze.

"That's the Swellow. They've played us, keep your eyes peeled," Mustie whispered. As they warily looked around, a sickeningly sweet smell began to fill the air as the sun suddenly seemed to beat down on us harder. Gold yelled in frustration.

"Sweet Scent and Sunny Day? What are you tryna' pull here? Just let us take the boat and-"

He was cut off as a blur of blue struck the two, knocking them down. Disoriented by the Aerial Ace, Gold fired off several bright projectiles after Pike, but the Swift didn't do much good as Arden and May burst out of the bushes, charging what looked to be powerful attacks. Team Assail tried to scramble out of the way, but the Sweet Scent prevented them from making it far. As Arden yelled an indiscernible one-liner, he and May fired a combined Flamethrower and Solarbeam at the two. The resulting explosion sent Rye and I flying back, coming to rest about twenty feet away. Ears ringing, I looked up to find the smoke clearing, revealing a large crater with Mustie and Gold barely conscious inside. Arden walked over, grinning widely as he looked at the two.

"That's our Warcrime attack pattern there, assholes! Now, about those drinks..."

Mustie groaned pitifully as May threw a couple of Orans into the crater. As Rye and I pushed ourselves off the ground, Pike landed next to us, clearly having been hit by the Swift, quickly followed by Bert emerging from the river. Our party reunited, Rye turned to Arden and May, clearly not happy.

"Why'd you leave us here?! They could have attacked us!" he yelled.

"Sorry, kid. We woke up before you, heard 'em yelling, and figured you'd be alright back here. Looks like _somebody_ forgot to close the door, though," Arden reasoned, glaring at a disgruntled Pike. Rye was about to argue back, but Bert slapped the raft to grab our attention before he could.

"You're both beautiful, now let's get a move on! The Cap'n's gonna be pissed that we beached his raft, let's not make it worse by being late!"

* * *

The remaining hour of our trip down the Serperior was a fair bit quieter than before. Rye and I, still upset about what had happened that morning, gave Team Apex the cold shoulder for the most part, choosing instead to watch the water behind us and fire off Water Guns at the trees along the bank. When we finally did arrive, Team Apex quickly stepped off the raft and nodded gratefully to Bert.

"Thanks again, Bert. We should be back here in the next week, so if you don't come back for us, we'll just swim back and hunt you down. Basically, please don't forget us," Arden said. He then pulled out several gold coins and placed them in Bert's paws.

"Keep the change," he said. As they turned, Pike held up his wing signaling them to wait. He approached me, that same disgust in his eyes apparent, though they now seemed hold noticeably less hatred towards me. In its place was... respect? Gratitude? Plotting? Jealousy? Who knows. Standing over me for a while, he eventually sighed.

"Thanks, Beck," he forced out with a small shudder. He then hopped back to the others, and Team Apex began walking down the path leading away from the river. Watching them go until they disappeared in the horizon, Bert fiddled with the coins for a bit before smirking to himself.

"Heh, not bad for my last voyage," he said.

"Wait, what?!" Rye yelped. I looked at the Wartortle, shock on my face.

"Yeah, you can only go through so many storms before they start to get to you. I'm quitting once I get Team Apex back to port. As to what I'll do, not sure. Maybe I'll take up training," he replied. I tried to find a response, but he raised his paw.

"It's a small world, kid. We'll meet again someday, I'm sure. Count on it."

With that, he boarded the raft and pushed it away from the shore, not going back underwater as to allow the current to carry us downstream. The long ride home went smoothly. Our interaction with an annoyed but jovial Cap'n Brine and our farewells to Bert went by without incident. Our long walk back to the storm-battered but still bustling Impetus Town was gloriously uneventful. With this in mind, we made our ways to the Guild, and after a bit of negotiation with Ms. Audino over our staying the night, finally collapsed into our beds in the sick bay. I knew all too well that being an exploration team, this wouldn't last, but still, it was good to be home.


	10. The Guild

"Rye? Beck?"

Groaning as I blinked sleep out of my eyes, I rolled over to find Ms. Audino standing over Rye and I. She authoritatively cleared her throat to Rye, who hadn't seemed to have heard her wake-up call. He slowly sat up, rubbing his head.

"D-Dill?" he groaned. Upon looking around and noticing his surroundings, his expression grew gloomy.

"S-sorry. Just a dream," he stammered. With the two of us now awake, Ms. Audino began speaking again.

"Cinccino's here to show you around the Guild, seeing as you two haven't been available."

Confused, we hobbled out of bed into the sick bay's lobby, where, indeed, Cinccino was waiting for us. Upon seeing us, her usual cheery smile spread across her face.

"Ah, there you are! Come along, now, there's much to see, and I'm due for the office by mid-morning!" she said hurriedly. As she skipped out the door, Rye and I exchanged glances.

"Shaagh," I muttered.

"Whatever you just said, I probably agree."

* * *

Even after the storm that had nearly killed us had swept through the area, the village that made up Arcanine's Guild was still as bustling as ever. Along the main road leading up to the Guildmaster's hut, dozens of Pokémon either helped to clean rubble and garbage off or simply walked past, their exploration apparently being more important. Cinccino stopped and pointed towards the road out.

"As you know, Impetus Town is only about a five minutes walk from here. You'll be buying your things from the shops there, and you are free to explore the town during your free time," she said before continuing with the tour.

Struggling to keep up with her, we panted as Cinccino stopped in front of the amphitheater I had seen a few days ago. I noticed that a statue stood at the rim of the structure, depicting Guildmaster Arcanine gazing into the horizon, a determined fire in his eyes.

"This is where announcements, meetings, and any entertainment the other guildmembers might put on is held. Before you ask, no, we do not actually hold ritual sacrifices here, and I will never forgive Arden nor May for starting those rumors," she huffed before straightening up. "We only had this place built a year ago, and while it did cost a good few Poké, it's better than standing in the middle of the street for official announcements, wouldn't you say?" Cinccino said before turning to the statue, bowing her head slightly.

"Now, this wasn't requested when the Guildmaster ordered this place built, but a few of the larger teams decided to get together and surprise him with this. I like to think he still comes here to look it over when no one's watching."

"Sha?" I asked, a bit uncertain as to why Arcanine was so beloved. Sure, he was nice when I met him, but then again, he kept a fucking skeleton in his room. Cinccino looked at me oddly, then suddenly put her hand to her head, laughing.

"My, I forgot! You wouldn't know about Arcanine, would you?" she sighed. "Arcanine might be the most well-traveled Pokémon you'll find this side of Gray Proper. He was one of the greatest explorers in the known world back in the day, and he was one of the founders of Impetus Town here."

"W-wait, he wha...?!" Rye yelped. "Th-that'd make him-"

"Yes, at least two hundred years old. Records say he was exploring as far back as six hundred years back," Cinccino replied, causing Rye's jaw to drop.

"W-whoa... I knew he's been around for a while, but... wow..." he muttered.

"The ancient humans of the east didn't worship his species for nothing," Cinccino replied. "Then again, his unusual genetics might have had something to do with it."

"Y-you mean his... uh, Shininess?" Rye asked. Cinccino shrugged.

"We don't know much about how it works, but it's always a possibility."

With that, she ran along to the next stop. Groaning, I followed her and Rye until we reached a large building sitting on the middle of the slope.

"Hey-hey, Cincy!" a gruff voice called out. A Raticate leaned out the door and waved at Cinccino, wearing a horrible smile that made Rye and I wince slightly. Looking over at her, I noticed she looked at him with an air of disgust, shivering as the Raticate slipped back into the building.

"That is the mess hall. Go in if you want, I just... urgh."

We decided to take our chances and go into the place. Inside, several tables were set in messy lines, discarded food littering the floor. Raticate was picking the garbage off the ground, sniffing it before either tossing it into a bag or stuffing it into his mouth. Noticing us, he stepped up to us, trying for a friendly grin, though the various juices dribbling from his mouth didn't exactly come across as inviting.

"Mornin'! Sorry you had to see the place like this, breakfast just got through. I'm the cook around here," he said, waving his filthy claw and flinging untold horrors onto my face. "I apologize if the neat freak gave you the wrong idea, she's just biased. I'm a nice Pokémon, but she just can't accept that it's my joint, and I run it how I want, damn it."

We didn't stick around long. Cinccino hurriedly pushed us away from the mess hall, eventually stopping in a small plaza with three wooden boards standing front and center.

"Job notices and news are posted here. The one on the left is consistently updated with the latest news and notices, the center board is where job requests are posted for teams like you to accept, and the right board details wanted criminals that are suspected to be on the run," she told us.

As I stared up at the imposing board and its dozens of notices, all covered in text unreadable to me, I couldn't help but feel intimidated. Cinccino seemed to notice this and turned to me.

"Seeing as Beck here most likely doesn't know, I'll explain real quick: most jobs and explorations will have you going into mystery dungeons. Basically, they're regions where time and space don't exactly... behave. You can never go into one and find the same layout. They've existed for at least the past thousand years, but we don't know much about how they work," she explained.

_'Don't behave? ...yeah, makes sense. I mean, Quinite Woods did seem a bit... er, unnatural sometimes.'_

As I thought about this, Cinccino grabbed my paw.

"Now, then, time for the last stop! You'll love it, I can tell you that!"

She dragged Rye and I away from the boards, only letting our numbing hands go when she arrived to a small hut near the bottom of the hill. Rubbing my wrist, I watched as Rye examined a sign on the door.

"...Team Reach? B-Beck, we have our own place now!" he said joyfully, jumping in place.

"Shaah!" I cried, joining him. Cinccino grinned as she watched our enthusiasm.

"I'll just leave you to it, I'd best be going now! Good luck to the both of you!" she piped, heading down the road back towards reception. We ran into our new base, which consisted of a single room, two simple straw beds sitting against the wall. Of course, we didn't really care about the minimal arrangements, so long as we didn't have to worry about breaking Ms. Audino's equipment. Rye snapped out of his stupor, adjusting our bag around his shoulder.

"We can admire the place later, let's see if there's any jobs up right now!" he said.

* * *

"Alright, um, you see those colored symbols there?" Rye asked, pointing to one of the notices on the center board. "That's the difficulty rating. Since you can't read, I guess you can figure it out by color. It goes from green, which is easier, to red, which is harder," he explained. With this in mind, I began scouring the board, looking for an appropriate first job. Eventually, I found one of the green symbols Rye had mentioned, so I pointed it out.

"Oh, nice job! Let's see what we've got..." he said, ripping the paper off the board.

"Alright, it's an E-tier job. It says it's a lost Poochyena in Mou-"

Rye stopped, paling as he read the line.

"...a-actually, let's not t-take this one," he stammered, shakily handing the notice back to me.

"Swhaa?" I inquired.

"It, uh... i-it says it's in Mount T-Twist. I... I can't go in there," Rye responded.

"Shaah?"

"...it... I... uh, I had a f-friend once, a Totodile. H-he was called Dill."

Rye paused, the memories seemingly painful for him.

"H-he went into the caves in Twist one day and... h-he never came back out..."

He hung his head, letting out a shaky breath. I put a paw to his back, trying to console him.

"...heh. H-he was a lot like you, now that I think about it. He wanted to know more about the world, he'd be there to help me out, e-even if I didn't deserve it, and..."

Rye paused for a minute, sniffling a bit.

"...a-and, no offense, but h-he was a bit weird sometimes, heh. I... I just don't want to go out like that or... y'know, find him in there," he said. I contemplated this for a bit before nodding solemnly and tacking the notice back onto the board.

"Th-thanks," Rye said quietly as I began scanning the board once more.

* * *

Rye couldn't help but feel a little bad as he watched Beck struggle to pick a notice from the massive board.

_'He can't even read, and here I am trying to force him to color-code this...'_

He had thought this would be useful for teaching him to read, but doubt was creeping in as usual. All he hoped was that the six months of apprenticing with Team Apex would be enough to get it all across.

As Rye watched, he found himself spacing out as per usual. With his attention elsewhere, his voice of reason decided to kick in.

_'Yeah, whatever happened to 'no more secrets', huh?'_

_'This is different.'_

_'It really isn't. If anything, Beck being human is worse. You have no excuse.'_

_'I-I can't just go telling him all that...'_

_'Why not?'_

_'Sh-shut up...'_

_'Just you wait. He'll ask Mr. Arden about it and he'll find out. It all could have been avoided, but nope. You know whose fault it was; you know, the one behind Dill's broken body? You want to take a wild guess?'_

_'SHUT UP!'_

Rye let out a raspy groan and hit himself on the head, prompting Beck to turn to look at him.

"Shaa?" he cried, concern clear in his beady eyes. Rye silenced his pessimistic inner voice as he regained his composure.

"I-It's nothing, Beck," he stammered, prompting the Oshawott to shoot him a look and slowly turn back to the job board.

_'...ugh._

_If only.'_


	11. Road to the Meadow

"Alright, let's see... uh, it's a level D through Amber Meadow. We can manage that, I think," Rye said, reading a notice I had picked out from the board.

"Um, a Nidoran wants someone to meet them in Impetus Town, go to Amber Meadow, and find a Pecha scarf they lost in there. It says the reward's five hundred Pok _é._ "

"Sha?" I questioned.

_'That much? Wow, this might not be so bad...'_

Rye sighed. "Don't get too excited, the Guild has a tax for explorers. Eighty percent of the reward goes to them, we'd only get a hundred Pok _é_ from this."

Taking notice of my disappointment, he raised his hands.

"Hey, don't worry, it could be worse, I heard the tax changes from time to time. Apparently the rate went up to ninety-five percent when they were building the amphitheater," he reassured me. Reading over the notice again, he narrowed his eyes.

"W-why would a Nidoran need... uh, y-you think we should take it?"

I nodded, prompting Rye to fold up the notice and put it in the bag.

"Well, then, let's head out! We just..."

His enthusiasm waned.

"...need items now."

Looking uncertain, he cleared his throat.

"D-does anyone know where can we get items here?" he asked.

"Gettin' items from the Guild? Hah, if only," a voice replied. We both paled as the Pokémon around us laughed.

_'Crap.'_

* * *

"Hey, look, it's Treecko! How's your pet doing, kid?"

The passing team chuckled as we made our way out of the Guild, sulking from such occurrences. The past five minutes had mostly just been odd looks and quiet jokes about my being feral, which dragged my already down mood just that little bit deeper. Not quite a desirable mood for... whatever we were doing, I'd guess, but I just hoped it'd get better. Grimacing back at the chuckling team behind us, Rye looked at me apologetically as we stepped onto the road heading to the town.

"D-don't mind them, they don't know what they're talking about. Hopefully we'll prove them wrong sooner or later," he said.

_'Yeah, here's hoping.'_

That in mind, the two of us walked up the dirt path and into Impetus Town. I'd heard mentions of the place here and there, but never had I gotten the chance to venture into the town. As we walked, I took a moment to take in the sights. Impetus Town was a homey if not quaint place, its earthen streets lined with houses and shops of various shapes and sizes, all of which housed Pokémon of equal diversity. As we passed into the circular town square, I found myself weaving between more and more Pokémon as they went about their morning. Laughing children ran about, a pair of Kecleons yelled at one another as they dragged a large cart along, and a Shiftry stood handing out thin wooden slabs of some sort as we stopped to look around. As a Plusle yelped and scurried off at the sight of me, I just let the culture shock I'd found myself with sink in. It was just... weird seeing all these Pokémon doing human things, I don't know. However, here they were, not only running a town like this but somehow making it feel... I don't know, homey somehow. I could almost hear woodwinds playing the town's theme when a loud _ahem_ rang out from behind.

"You two! You look like respectable young Pokémon," the Shiftry I'd seen called over. As Rye gulped and inched back, said Shiftry walked over, looking us over as he continued.

"You ever feel that things could be different? Better, maybe? Well, if you're looking to the future for change, you're looking the wrong way," he said, handing me one of the thin wooden slabs in his leafy "hands." It seemed to be a flyer of sorts, and while I couldn't make out any of the bizarre hieroglyphics it was written in, there was an image: some sort of bird, its wings spread as it flew out of... a forest? No, those were supposed to be flames, it seemed.

"The Phoenixes await," Shiftry said, giving us a curt nod before going back to his post. I looked to Rye for explanation as to what had just happened, but he looked just as lost as I was, so I threw the flyer aside as we approached a small pavilion, where the promised Nidoran was waiting for us.

"Y-you'll take my request? Oh, thank you so much! My friend's a Seedot, and I can't get anywhere near him if he isn't wearing that thing!" she piped.

"D-don't worry, Ms. Nidoran, w-we'll find your scarf! Right, Beck?" Rye replied.

"Sha!" I nodded, much to Nidoran's delight. She waved us off as we headed back up the long town street and towards a fork in the road. Looking at the map, we noted that Amber Meadow laid about thirty miles southeast of our present location.

"Looks like it's gonna be a long walk. Good thing we packed supplies for the night, huh? D-don't worry, we should be able to find some items in the dungeon... I hope..." Rye said nervously as we set out for the meadow.

* * *

"Shuaaagh..."

"I honestly don't know how Mr. Arden does this every day," Rye panted. While the two hours that had passed hadn't presented too much challenge in terms of terrain like the walk to the harbor had, even the level plains of the route we had been walking down had taken their toll on our inexperienced frames.

Giving in to my legs' aching, I collapsed onto the grass on the side of the road. Rye stopped to try for a glare, then muttered under his breath and joined me in my rest.

"Wow. It's only noon and we've already given in," he said flatly.

"Shyea," I replied with a laugh. We laid there in silence for a minute before Rye stood back up, seemingly ready to get going again. I sent him a deadpan look as he noticed I was still on the ground.

"O-oh... uh, guess since I'm a grass-type and the sun's out..."

Rye silently sat back down as I pitifully moaned. Eventually, I regained enough energy to heave myself off the grass, quickly noticing Rye had pulled out the map. He grimaced as he traced the path with his finger.

"B-by the looks of it, we've only covered about six miles."

I let my whining self fall onto the grass again as Rye looked on.

_'Please, whoever's listening, I'll never complain about May carrying me again, just don't make me walk another damn mile!'_

As if in a twisted response to my mental pleading, a glob of crap landed on my head, courtesy of a passing Pidove overhead, much to Rye's horrified amusement.

_'Yeah, screw you, too.'_

* * *

The sun had dipped well below the horizon by the time we stopped to rest for the night. We had made good progress since the Pidove incident, clearing at least twenty out of the thirty miles. With that in mind, we decided that it'd be a good time to set up camp.

It seemed we were ill-equipped to do so, unfortunately, as once we had found a clearing, we had realized that we didn't have much of a clue what to do next. Presently, Rye was confusedly trying to rub sticks together to start a fire. While I watched on, he blew on the little smoke that was now curling out, but ended up snuffing it out. Groaning in frustration, he threw the sticks onto the ground, lying down on the ground.

"Sorry, I-I'm just so used to Mr. Arden starting the campfires..." he said. "Good thing it's spring, huh?"

As the last light of dusk slipped away, we found ourselves watching the stars slowly wink to life, one by one. However, I couldn't focus on them, as I had other things on my mind.

_'What was up with Rye back there at the boards? Just... the way he acted when he read that notice, and how he was hitting himself afterwards...'_

"Shrye?" I asked. If he wasn't giving me the whole story, then maybe if I asked him about it...

Rye turned to me. "Y-yeah, Beck?"

I opened my mouth, only to stop short as I remembered that I didn't know the words to ask him. I tried to mime out my question as per usual, though he didn't seem to catch what I was trying to say. Giving up after the sixth confused look, I returned to my silent contemplation.

_'I'll ask him another day, I guess.'_

As silence once again hung in the air, I took a moment to look at the sky. Odd that I had been an Oshawott for well over a week by this point, and I hadn't once gotten to see the night sky. I could now say for myself that the wait was worth it. Thousands of stars now graced the sky, wispy clouds of far-away bodies backing them. Without anything else to do, the two of us stared up at the scene quietly.

"This is one of the things I love about exploring," Rye whispered to me after a while. "In a town or city, you wouldn't be able to see anything like this because of all the torchlight. If you go out, y-you start realizing the world's a lot bigger and prettier than you thought. This is just the beginning, imagine what we'll be able to see once we go to the mountains or the desert..."

Grinning at his spiel, I glanced back at the sky. As I gazed, a familiar pattern caught my eye: a long straight row of four stars. I excitedly pointed to the constellation built around them, gesturing for Rye to see. He cocked his head.

"...oh, yeah, it's Zacian! I guess we can see it outside the Dark Isles since, you know, it's spring and all.", he said. "It's usually pretty cloudy this time of year, so-"

I looked at him, confused. "Sha...?"

_'Who's Zacian? That's the Twin Heroes, how could you-'_

I froze.

Had I just remembered something from my past? It was insignificant at best, seeing as I didn't know what these Twin Heroes were, only that the constellation was called that. How could I have remembered it, though?

...come to think of of it, how could I have recognized it at all? As far as I could recall, this world was entirely different from the one I had come from, so shouldn't the constellations be entirely different? How could I point out any?

...unless...

I quickly began scanning the sky to affirm my suspicions.

_'Yeah, there's Reshiram and Zekrom above the Heroes... there's Yvetal tailing the Soldier... there's Sir Aaron and Lucario to the north... what the actual...'_

"H-hey, Beck, you okay?" Rye asked. I jumped, snapping out of my stupor and whipping my head around to meet the Treecko's gaze. I hesitantly nodded, earning a doubtful look from him.

_'Don't do that, Rye. I need more time to think this over.'_

Sighing, Rye set his head on the grass, taking one last look at the stars.

"We should make it to Amber Meadow early tomorrow, so, uh, I-I'm gonna hit the hay. Let's do good tomorrow, Beck," he said.

With that, he drifted off, leaving me to ponder. Of course, I didn't get very far in that regard, as the day's fatigue quickly caught up with me, pulling me into sleep under the light of that beautiful starry sky.


	12. Amber Meadow

The light of midmorning peeked through the trees as Rye and I finished the last leg of our walk. As Rye had promised, we had gotten up at first light to groggily trudge the last ten miles to Amber Meadow. I was at least aware of what was in store for us, so it wasn't nearly as unpleasant as we had feared. We didn't really have much to talk about, seeing as the topics most on our minds were topics we preferred to keep to ourselves.

Besides, I hadn't exactly figured out how to get across to Rye that this world might somehow be the human world I had left behind. I hadn't even been able to comprehend it entirely myself. What did this mean for my past? How did this happen? Was everyone I knew dead? Had the humanity I knew died out or abandoned the region? Could it be that everything actually fine and the Gray Continent was just some massive nature preserve? Was this even my world or some parallel universe?

_'Agh, my head hurts.'_

Eventually, we stumbled across a large sign in the road, ahead of which the trees of the forest gradually thinned out into a meadow of tall, yellowish grass. Rye stepped forward to read the sign for me.

"Warning. The area ahead has been classified as a mystery dungeon by the Gray Proper Exploratory Society. Enter with caution," he read off it.

Swallowing hard, I ambled forth past the sign, Rye following close behind. As the trees began to become fewer and farther in between, I could almost feel the air around me growing colder, as if someone or something were watching me. Rye seemed to take notice of my unease at this, so he put a hand on my shoulder.

"D-don't worry, Beck, they all feel like this. Once you go into a mystery dungeon, you start feeling all weird. N-nothing to worry about," he said reassuringly. "It's okay, w-we'll do this together, alright?"

With a shiver, I nodded, so we continued heading deeper into the mystery dungeon.

* * *

**Amber Meadow**

**1F**

_'Ugh, talk about deja vu.'_

Unpleasant images of Quinite Woods began to flash through my head as I looked into the labyrinthine pathways leading out of the clearing we had found ourselves in. Looking over at Rye, I could tell he was uneasy about this, too, though I could infer it wasn't as bad as my untold dread, seeing as he had done this before. As such, he was the first to head down one of the paths, gesturing me to follow.

As we walked through the seemingly endless rows of grass, we stopped as a loud, challenging yowl rang through the air. Ahead, a Purrloin stared us down, its fur standing on end.

"D-don't panic, it's just a feral. Nothing to worry about," Rye muttered to himself before giving me a sideways glance. "No offense."

The Purrloin, evidently unfazed by our non-aggression, began to charge towards us, letting out a fierce yell. Looking around panickedly, I noticed the tall grass on the side of the path.

_'Why don't we just go through here? I mean, surely there isn't anything stopping us, right?'_

I began trying to trudge through the tall grass, only to be tangled up in weeds and briers. What was worse, more were now emerging and they appeared to be trying to pull me deeper into the brush.

"Beck! No!" I heard Rye yell.

As Rye grabbed onto me and began trying to pull me out, I desperately searched for whatever I had on hand to free myself. Eventually, I felt a hard spot on my chest with my free paw.

_'My scalchop!'_

Although it was small and undeveloped, I decided that would be enough. With a powerful swing, I managed to slice through one of the briers that had tightly wrapped itself around my now-bleeding leg, sending it retreating into the brush. The rest of the rogue grasses seemed to get the idea and violently threw me back onto the path. However, I didn't get much reprieve, as the Purrloin pounced on me with its claws out.

Cringing from the Fake Out attack, I dropped my scalchop, opening myself up for another attack. Before it could strike me further, Rye slammed his tail into the Purrloin in a Pound attack, sending it flying. Grabbing for my scalchop, I ran at it and slashed it in the chest several times. That was apparently enough to do it in, as the Purrloin collapsed quickly thereafter. Shakily panting and legs quaking, I kept my scalchop trained on the thing warily.

"B-Beck, it's fainted, y-you're okay now..." Rye reassured me. As the energy from my adrenaline rush faded, I collapsed into Rye's arms a blubbering mess. A couple minutes of emotional recovery and an Oran later, we warily continued down the path, eventually entering into a clearing. In the center of it, a large earthen mound stood, leading upwards into the grass.

"Oh, hey, the staircase! Nice!" Rye beamed.

_'...how and why are there stairs in the middle of a meadow? What even is anything anymore?'_

Rye began walking up the dirt stairs while I stared dumbfounded at the sight.

"D-don't worry, stairs are okay, the dungeon won't try to take you again," he reassured me.

Holding my scalchop tight, I decided to take his word for it and nervously followed him through the grass obscuring the top of the staircase.

* * *

**Amber Meadow**

**2F**

"S-see? We're okay," Rye said, patting me on the back. "Basically, the stairs let you into other floors without the dungeon throwing you out or... er, yeah..."

Now silent, we walked through the clearing laid out before us, my paw still clutching my scalchop. As we approached one of the paths leading out, I suddenly fell to the ground. Turning to see what I had slipped on, I saw a medium-sized seed on the ground. Picking it up, Rye examined it closely.

"Oh, hey, a Stun Seed! Nice job, Beck!" he exclaimed.

"Sh-swha...?" I asked. To me, it looked just the same as any other seed.

"Oh, uh, there's really subtle differences between them, Ms. May spent a whole week drilling me on them. See how the ridges look more... er, bolt-like than other seeds?" Rye explained.

Nope, still looked the same. Maybe I'd see it once I got more experience with them. Putting the seed up, we trudged on. While we did come across our fair share of ferals, I had learned my lesson about trying to take shortcuts, and we thus weren't caught off guard as we had been with the Purrloin. As such, we reached the next staircase without too much incident.

"I'm guessing from the notice that the scarf shouldn't be far now. Maybe it's on the next floor, keep an eye out," Rye said as we approached the earthen stairs.

* * *

**Amber Meadow**

**3F**

"Priii!"

The Patrat we were facing off against fled in fear as I finished off a Water Gun attack. We had been searching the floor for well over twenty minutes by this point, and it was starting to show. With no trees to block the relentless sun out, I was quickly growing fatigued and sweaty. Of course, Rye looked just fine, being a grass-type. Lucky.

Turning a corner, a sudden change in the yellow coloring caught my eye. A pink scarf was hanging over a particularly thick stalk of grass in the clearing ahead. Rye's eyes lit up.

"Th-that's it! Let's go and-"

"Oi! Not so fast!"

Rye shrank back as a blue, bird-like Pokémon entered the clearing, giving an intimidating glare.

"Paws off. The shiny thing's mine," the Murkrow said. "Finder's keepers."

I quickly drew my scalchop, prompting a harsh laugh from Murkrow.

"Alright, then, you wanna fight for it? Have at you, then."

Murkrow immediately flew up and divebombed towards us. I shot a Water Gun at him, but that didn't stop him from flying into Rye, delivering a hard Peck to his gut. With a yell of pain, Rye glared at him with a Leer, his eyes glowing red. With a shudder, the Murkrow hopped back, facing the two of us down.

A tense moment passed where we watched each other, anticipating our opponent's next move. As the standoff continued, I felt through our bag for anything we could use. Eventually, my paw wrapped around a familiar roundish object. Pulling the Stun Seed out, I stood my ground as Murkrow suddenly charged towards me. I threw the seed at him, where it hit him square in the forehead before bursting. Murkrow seized up and fell to the ground, paralyzed. Seeing opportunity, Rye forcefully put a hand on his head, and as I watched, his wounds seemed to heal up as Murkrow painfully gasped. After a moment, Murkrow went limp, his energy spent. Rye stared at his hands in awe.

"Th-that was too powerful to be an Absorb... I-I think I learned Mega Drain!" he said excitedly. As he celebrated his new technique, I pulled Nidoran's Pecha scarf down, slipping it into our bag. With our mission done, I found myself asking an important question.

_'How do we get out of here?'_

As if to answer, Rye pulled out his badge and pressed it to the scarf. With a flash of light, he was gone, presumably having been teleported out of the dungeon. Deciding not to think about this violation of basic logic, I dug for my badge, only to hear a weak groan coming from Murkrow.

"D-don't leave me in here... I just wanted... agh, I don't want the dungeon to take me!" he moaned. Gone was the challenging fire in his eyes, replaced by a look of pleading and desperation. I hesitated for a moment before sighing.

"Shaah..." I said, hoisting the exhausted Murkrow onto my back.

"Thank you, I-I won't forget thi- ow, ow, watch the wing!" he yelped as I pressed my badge against the scarf. A white light quickly enveloped me as the two of us disappeared from the dungeon.

* * *

A few seconds passed before I found myself on the ground again, the light around me giving way to the road just outside the meadow. Rye was sitting under the warning sign, glad at my arrival. His contentedness quickly melted away as I gently put my passenger down.

"Y-you brought Murkrow with you?" he asked.

Shooting him a look, I gestured towards the dungeon with a "Shaa!". After a moment of consideration, Rye groaned and nodded.

"W-we aren't going to carry him back to Impetus, are we?" he asked. I shook my head, sitting down on the side of the road and offering a seat to the Treecko. As he sat down, Murkrow's paralysis finally wore off. As he shakily stood up, he turned to face us. Giving a simple nod of gratitude, he pulled a seed from his hat-like head feathers and put it in my paws. I handed it to Rye, who examined it before his eyes widened.

"Th-this is a Reviver Seed! W-we can't take this, we..."

He trailed off as Murkrow hobbled away, presumably to return home. Exchanging shocked glances, Rye and I put the seed away before leaning our backs against the signpost.

We'd start the journey home later, we figured. For now, I'd say we had earned some rest.


	13. Undertaking

"E-easy, Beck, it won't hurt as bad if you hold still..."

Lying on the ground as Rye put his hand on the wounds on my legs, I shook my head in yet another fruitless effort to get the Treecko to stop with his flimsy plan.

"Shrye... sh-SHAA!"

I cringed violently as Grass-type energy flowed into my body. Although my wounds were closing up slowly, the burning pain flowing through my body didn't help this come across as a good thing.

"S-sorry! I-I haven't done this before, just...!" Rye said through clenched teeth.

After our little escapade through Amber Meadow, we had started back home, only to realize that my wounds from the incidents on the first floor hadn't entirely gone away. Upon Rye's insistence that they'd get infected, he had the bright idea to try to take care of it himself, despite us having used our last Oran back in the dungeon.

After some thought, Rye's best plan to do so was, as he called it, "Absorb but in reverse." The problem was that not only were our respective typings not very convenient for such a process, but his Absorb technique had apparently been entirely replaced with Mega Drain, which he had barely any experience with. Where that had led us was an increasingly tired Rye trying to pump painful energy into my struggling form.

"Beck, please hold still, I'm-"

"SHA!"

Finally fed up with my kicking, an exasperated Rye groaned and raised his hands in the air.

"Alright, alright, fine then, we'll just wait till we get back to the Guild," he said.

He tried to help me onto my feet, but the already present sharp pain only intensified once I put weight on my legs. As I faceplanted into the ground, I heard Rye let out another frustrated yell. After a little while, he defeatedly sat down.

"Ugh, j-just stay there. The sun's going down soon, anyways."

_'At least the universe gave us that.'_

* * *

The stinging in my legs had mostly subsided by the time the stars came out, so the two of us could sit and watch them in peace. Although clouds were now partially obscuring the sky and the moon was beginning to wax, it was still a worthwhile view, I'd say. As I itched at one of the many scabs on my leg, Rye, who had stopped fidgeting with the Reviver Seed we had been gifted, turned to me.

"H-hey, Beck? Uh, sorry about earlier... you know, th-the whole reverse Absorb thing. I really just need more practice with it, I guess..." he said. He sat there for a minute before letting out a bitter chuckle.

"Heh. Everyone says Treecko are supposed to be calm and collected, and here I am worrying about everything, ruining everything I try, being a general waste of space..."

"Sha..." I said, reaching over to console him. Cracking a small smile at this, he continued.

"Maybe, uh, it's fate, y'know? A Treecko who can't stand his ground and an Oshawott who used to be human getting together to form a team; maybe someone out there wants us both to become better through this. I mean, it's only been about two weeks since we met, and you're already learning to be a Pokémon pretty well, aren't you? Who knows, I might just learn enough to prove Mom and Dad wrong! I-it doesn't matter what they say, just because I failed Dill doesn't mean I'm a complete..."

Rye visibly paled as he trailed off, turning to look at me.

"...sorry, g-got a little carried away..."

I stared at him skeptically, causing him to shrink back.

"L-look, it's... it's really personal, alright?" he managed. I looked into his pleading eyes for a while, eventually sighing and turning away, much to his relief. We both continued to stare up into the sky as I pondered silently.

_'What are you hiding, Rye?'_

* * *

It was well into the afternoon the next day when we arrived in Impetus Town. Aside from the expected rest stops, we found that we had made better time than before. As expected, an ecstatic Nidoran was waiting in the town square for us.

"Oh, thank you! After that Murkrow made off into the meadow with this, I thought I'd never see it again!" she piped as we gave her the slightly torn scarf.

"Uh, a-anytime!" Rye stammered, looking at her expectantly. She cocked her head before her eyes widened.

"Oh, th-the Poké... er... about that..."

She timidly shrank back as I felt my eye twitch. Rye, his friendly demeanor visibly shifting into one of uncertainty as to what to do next, bit his lip.

"Y-you mean you don't have-"

"I-I'm sorry! I got robbed outside town this morning, I promise I'll pay you back!" Nidoran cried out. As Rye tried to form a response, I raised my paw.

"Shwaah?" I asked, gesturing to the road and pointing at my head.

"Uh... are you asking what I remember? Oh, uh... all I remember is that there was a Poliwrath, that they kept going on about the greater good, and that they were heading north when I was chasing them. I'd give you more, but Officer Magnezone said he needed a day to process it..." Nidoran said.

"Sha, shaa!" I exclaimed with what I hoped was determination, turning to Rye.

"Y-you want to go after them?" he asked. Grinning confidently, I nodded.

"What? B-but Officer Magnezone said he'd send out a request for a team in the area, though!" Nidoran exclaimed.

"I-I think it'll be fine. I think we'll caught up with the thieves by then. You know, if we're taking this," Rye said, looking at me warily. "W-we don't have any items and we're a rookie team, Beck. Are you sure you want to do this?"

_'...no, I'm not. I've got my footing in this world now, though! I at least know what to expect now! If there's a chance that we'll succeed...'_

"Sha!" I proclaimed, pointing my scalchop up the path. Rye stared in that direction before reluctantly nodding.

"I-if you say so, I guess..."

Nidoran's expression brightened as I stuck my scalchop back, ignoring Rye's dread.

"I'll mail you two once Officer Magnezone finds them, then... thanks again, Team Reach!" she said before trotting off, the Pecha scarf wrapped up atop her head. Rye chuckled nervously.

"H-here's hoping you know what you're doing..." he asked as we started back towards the Guild.

"Hey, we have a day, right?" he suddenly asked as we passed Cinccino's office. "H-how about we stop and see if we can get you a trainer after we stop by Ms. Audino? I mean, it's a Poliwrath, right? Honestly, we're gonna need all the help we can get..."

"Shya," I agreed as we began our stroll to the sick bay.

* * *

"What did you say happened to Beck?" Ms. Audino asked Rye, her brow furrowed as she examined my leg, a bottle of liquid in her hand.

"Uh... he tried to jump into the side brush in the meadow, ma'am," Rye replied. Ms. Audino sighed as she rubbed some of the liquid onto my leg, causing the scratches on them to sting as she quickly bandaged them.

"The berry juice should take care of whatever got in there. You should be able to take those off by tomorrow. I don't have much else to say other than never go off the path. I thought that would be common sense, especially for a Pokémon who apparently lived inside a mystery dungeon, but I suppose life has its surprises," Ms. Audino said, much to my chagrin.

"Th-thanks again, ma'am," Rye said. As we turned to leave, Ms. Audino stopped us.

"Oh, is Beck's mental state getting any better?" she asked. Rye looked back at her confusedly.

"...er, his what, ma'am?"

"His delusions about being human?"

Rye and I shrunk back. I knew she had walked in on us that one time, but had she really heard enough to assume this was a problem? As Ms. Audino watched on curiously, Rye swallowed hard.

"Uh, th-they're getting better, ma'am. Thanks... uh, th-thanks for asking."

Before the nurse could question us any further, we had hurried out the door. As we stopped to catch our breaths, I looked up to find that we had been in there long enough for the sun to have started setting. Rye quickly took notice of this as well.

"...uh, w-we can go train tomorrow," he said. "Let's head to bed, alright? We'll need it, I think."

"Sha," I agreed.

With that, we retired to our little hut. Although I wasn't sleeping in quiet woods under a starry sky, there was something about using that place for the first time that struck me as just as peaceful. As I lied on my straw bed listening to Rye shift in his own, I couldn't help but find myself wondering if I had made the right choice by dragging him into an outlaw chase like this so suddenly.

_'I just hope I wasn't too rash about things... only one way to find out, I guess.'_


	14. Feral

_Clanga-clanga-clang!_

A loud metallic banging sound rang from outside as I wearily opened my eyes. The sun was just beginning to show through our windows as the murmur of nearby teams waking up drifted in. Groaning, I cursed my tail for making comfortably sleeping such a chore and rolled out of my straw bed. I quickly noticed that Rye had done the same, although there wasn't any indication that his tail was cramped. Maybe proper positioning in this case was an instinct thing I just hadn't figured out yet?

"Urgh... m-morning, Beck..." Rye mumbled groggily, pushing himself off the floor.

I got on my feet just in time to see a Bronzong lazily floating down the pathway outside, a Farfetch'd repeatedly hitting it with its stalk to produce the clanging that had woken us up. Rye finished stretching behind me and dusted himself off, turning to face me.

"Y-you ready for today?" he asked. "If what Nidoran's saying is right, we'll be heading out tomorrow. Let's make today worth it!"

We walked out the door to find a steady stream of Pokémon ambling towards the mess hall.

"Come on, breakfast lasts till mid-morning," Rye told me as we headed out to follow them.

As expected, a long line awaited us at the mess hall, so it was maybe half an hour before we found ourselves at the window looking Raticate in the face. He grinned, exposing his stained buck-teeth.

"Hey-hey, it's the newbies! How've things been for you?" he beamed.

"Uh, th-they've been good." Rye replied. Raticate pulled out two slabs of wood and waddled over to a set of shelves.

"You didn't tell me that you whitewatered the Serperior for your first trip! Why don't I ever hear 'bout these things till they're old news?" he chortled. We both cocked our heads in confusion.

"Shwaa?" I asked. No one but us and Bert could have been nearby to tell anyone about that, right?

"Er, where'd you hear that?" Rye asked concernedly.

"Well, Team Assail over there says they met you after the fact," Raticate responded, pointing behind us. We turned to find that, indeed, a bruised and beaten Team Assail were sitting a little ways away, Mustie and Gold both shooting us a steely glare before returning to their breakfast. We swallowed nervously and turned back to Raticate.

"Wh-what happened to them?" Rye asked.

"Apparently, they tried to go through Bewilder Forest and ran into a monster house. They only made it back here last night," Raticate responded. He looked around a bit before leaning towards us.

"Personally, I think that's bullshit. You see those burn marks? Methinks they got into another fight with Apex. Now that I think about it, you were there to see it, weren't you?" he muttered.

We hesitantly nodded as Raticate chuckled, now holding two full trays of fruits and... was that meat in there?

"Ah, don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I can call myself many things, but a snitch ain't one of them. Besides, beating up fellow guildmates happens to be against Guild rules, we'd all get fucked over if I said I was hidin' it, you know?" he said nonchalantly.

As he finished, he plopped the trays down on the counter. Examining the trays to confirm my suspicions about the strange food in the mix, I quickly noticed that one of them had almost twice as much on it as the other. I gestured to said tray confusedly, prompting Raticate to grin proudly.

"Well, they say you're a feral, right? Everyone says ferals eat like it's nobody's business out in the wild, so I figured I'd give ya extra just in case!" he beamed.

Feeling a forced smile creep onto my face, I awkwardly gave a small cry of thanks before we took our trays and scurried off to an empty table. Upon sitting down, I stared blankly at my large pile of food, seeing nothing but the implications behind it. As Rye joined me at the table, he gave me a sympathetic look.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Beck. Sure, that might have been a little... er, insensitive, but he meant well. We'll just have to explain it later, I guess. B-besides, extra food, right? I'll help if you don't want to finish it," he reasoned.

"...sh-shyah," I replied, resigning myself to eating my food. Chewing on one of the smaller apples on the tray, I eyed the suspicious chunks of food I had noted, and as suspected, they did appear to be some kind of cooked meat. Noticing my fixation on this morbid discovery, Rye cocked his head.

"What's the matter?" he asked. I held up one of the pieces, gesturing to it, which only seemed to confuse him further. Glancing around, he leaned in closer.

"Uh, did humans not eat meat, or...?" he whispered.

_'What? All I want to know is if eating other Pokémon is alright here or... agh!'_

Now in a state of mild moral panic, I exasperatedly started flapping my arm back and forth between myself and the meat. At this point, we were getting some strange looks from the other Pokémon in the mess hall, much to Rye's anxiety.

"Th-there's nothing wrong with eating meat, Beck. Um, M-Mr. Raticate didn't murder anyone, if that's what you're worried about, I think it's all from fer..."

Rye's eyes widened a bit as he suddenly trailed off.

"...er... oh..."

Needless to say, we decided not to push the topic any further after that.

As we headed out of the small forest between the Guild and its training grounds, I couldn't help but gaze up at what seemed to be the entrance. Framing the path leading in were two stone pillars adorned with torches and carved images of battle. I gulped a bit as we walked through.

"H-hey, don't worry, Master Greninja's a bit on the tough end from what I've heard, but he's the best Water-type master this side of Gray Proper. Uh, he's trained some of the best Water-types in the continent, and I've heard he fights other masters just for the fun of it! You'll learn a lot, I think!" Rye reassured me.

'...wow, he gets other Pokémon to fight him for sport? Huh, reminds me of a gym leader... wait, what? The fuck's a gym lead-'

My thoughts were cut short as I caught sight of the training grounds. Maybe fifteen structures of varying shapes and sizes, each presumably dedicated to a certain type, stood along the sides of the path, the loud sounds of powerful techniques filling the air. As a Trapinch flew over us, having been launched by a Stone Edge, I found myself becoming excited. If the trainers here were that powerful, what could this Master Greninja teach me?

We approached what looked to be the Water-type training area, which consisted of a small stone arena built over a nearby stream. However, no Pokémon were in sight anywhere near the area, in stark contrast to the others. All that awaited us was a posted notice, which Rye started silently reading. As he did so, his eyes widened with shock.

"...wh-what?! Master Greninja retired?!" he gasped.

Quickly looking around, he frantically dragged me over to the nearby Ground-type grounds, tugging at a Gliscor's wing.

"S-sir! What happened to Master Greninja?" he asked.

"...um, he quit a week ago and swam back where he came from. Thought that was common knowledge by now, but eh. What's it to a grassie like you?", the Gliscor replied.

"Uh... I-I wanted to find someone to train my friend here...", Rye said, gesturing to me.

"I can't help you there. Ask someone else, I guess.", the Gliscor replied before returning to his exercises. Unsure of what else to do, I followed Rye as he started asking any Water-type he could find for help, a Floatzel in this case.

"D-do you know anyone who could train my friend here?" he asked. The Floatzel looked me over before scoffing.

"Kid, anyone I do know has standards. They would prefer not to have their shit stolen out of their bags," he said.

"Wh-what?" Rye responded.

"Ask again when you aren't dragging along a feral," the Floatzel told Rye before moving along. As he disappeared into the crowd, Rye gave me an unsure look.

"I-I guess we'll keep trying..." he said. "Don't worry, someone's bound to take you up!"

* * *

"Is this a joke?"

"I ain't wasting my time on that thing."

"It can't even speak and you want someone to train it?"

"Sorry, but I don't think anyone would let me live it down if I did..."

"Hah, get a load of this, fellas!"

Such responses graced the hour we spent running around the training grounds. Of course, we had no luck in finding anyone who could give me anything other than tips or vague encouragement. When noon came, we trudged out of the grounds, nothing but low spirits to reward our efforts.

As we headed back to the Guild, I noticed that I wasn't as sad as I had expected from not getting the training I had hoped; I was more angry than anything. I was angry at Pike, at Raticate, at that Floatzel, and at everyone who had made a joke at my expense or given me that odd look. But more than anything, I was angry at whatever had sent me here.

_'Is this a sick joke to you? What could have possibly justified you making me like this? You couldn't even give me the basic privilege of speaking, damn it! Was everyone avoiding me like Slateport flu part of your grand scheme?!'_

"B-Beck? Are you...?" Rye hesitantly asked.

"Shya." I snapped back, ignoring a concerned look from him as I quickly returned to my internal seething.

_'I'm going to go off a limb here and say you aren't sending me back. Why would you leave me like this? Even if I'm supposed to do something big like you've been saying, everyone's just going to see me as the feral in residence no matter what I do, aren't they? This is never going to end..._

_…_

_FUCKING...!'_

With a loud cry of rage, I tore my scalchop off my chest and swung it into the nearest tree. Splinters flew everywhere as I clutched my scalchop tighter, pessimistic thoughts continuing to bubble up. As Rye watched in what I could only guess was horror, I struck the tree again, then again, and continued doing so, screaming and swearing in my animalistic tongue all the while, until it keeled over, landing with a loud crash in the woods. With that, I dropped to the ground, quietly sobbing. As I laid there hugging my tail, I felt a hand rest on my side.

"...h-hey... I-I'm right here, Beck, I'm right here... w-we'll get through this. I promise," Rye whispered. I turned to face him, my bloodshot eyes looking into his. Choking out a small cry, I hesitantly nodded as Rye pulled me into a comforting embrace.

_'...I just hope you're right this time.'_

After maybe ten minutes of staying at the spot of my meltdown, we silently finished the short walk back to the Guild. Upon arriving at our hut, we noticed an envelope tucked in the mailbox just beside the door. Rye picked it up to examine it, only to brighten up.

"It's from Nidoran!" he said before tearing the letter open and beginning to read.

"Forwarded from Officer Magnezone's office... uh, subjects Poliwrath and Vigoroth were last spotted by local authorities at noon in Bassa Village. Suspected to be preparing to go through nearby mystery dungeon. Swift action is needed from any potential pursuers," he read. As I looked on, he cursed quietly.

"Bassa Village? That's a week's walk away and in the middle of the desert! We don't have any money, we can't afford a flight there!" he groaned. As he started mumbling plans to himself, I tried to think of a solution.

_'Surely we've built favor with at least one Flying-type, right? Maybe... wait!'_

Perking up, I grabbed Rye's hand, and with a yelp from the Treecko, I led him down the pathway towards the Guild's entrance. Once we reached the gates, I insistently pointed down the road, much to Rye's confusion.

"Uh, what? Th-that's the road to the harbor, right? We can't take a boat..." he said.

I nodded expectantly, waiting for him to get it. After a minute, his eyes lit up.

"Wait... Cap'n Brine!" he exclaimed. Without any further hesitation, we started down the road to begin our next adventure. However, we quickly found ourselves stopping abruptly as Rye felt the empty space by his side, his face turning red with embarrassment.

"Oh. Uh... I-I didn't bring the bag to the training grounds..." he groaned.

...okay, then, our next adventure could start later, I guess.


	15. Up and Away

"Sh-sheaugh..."

"Y-yeah, I know, we're... we're almost there..."

The two of us dragged our sweating selves along the long, winding path to Brine's port. The sun had dipped so that it hung above the lake in the distance, sending glaring light into our eyes as we walked. As we averted our eyes from this and trudged into the port's campus, a gust of wind blew my fur back as a familiar Pelipper landed in front of us and quickly saluted.

"Ah, you two! Oi reckon ya came to see the lass and her friends back? You're a couple days early, oi'd say!" Cap'n Brine boomed. Rye stepped up, fidgeting his fingers so hard they turned pale.

"Uh... a-actually, we were wondering if... uh..."

Cap'n Brine gave us as close to a grin as his massive bill could produce as Rye shrunk back, visibly sweating.

"If it's anywhere down the rivah ya wanna go to, oi can-" the captain began.

"W-we need to get to Bassa Village as soon as possible. Guild job," Rye managed to choke out. Cap'n Brine's smile faltered as he looked at us conflictedly.

"Bassa? Hm, that's up north in the desert, if oi remember correctly? Hm, suppose ye want me tah fly ya lads there, then?" he inquired. We reluctantly nodded as Brine cast his gaze down in thought, muttering to himself.

"Hrm, I don't usually floi anyone places, me place is on the water. But oi suppose I still owe the Oshawott fah saving me raft..."

After a few minutes of this, he looked back up at us, his hearty grin returning.

"Alright, oi'll get ye lads there, but only if ya do me a lil' favor," he said.

"Wah?" I questioned. In response, Cap'n Brine pointed a wing out towards the lake, where several large Water-types seemed to be gathered over one spot trying to retrieve something from underwater.

"Last noight, two freighters carryin' ya standard goods 'ere rammed into each other," he explained. We let out small gasps as he chuckled grimly. "No one died, thank goodness fah that, but it's why it 'appened that's got me a bit spooked," he said.

He then gestured us to follow him, leading us to the lighthouse on the water's edge. The tower must have been a good twenty feet tall, and it was made entirely out of large stones and planks crowned by a haphazardly assembled light room. I had no idea how they managed to keep this thing from falling over from the mildest breeze, but through some miracle of engineering, it worked.

_'Honestly, why am I even trying to question things around here anymore?'_

"Loike most ports in Gray Proper, and the rest o' the world, I assume, we 'ave a resident Pokémon go up and Flash to guide the boats 'round here. Thing is, ours 'appens to be a lil' scattered and left the key inside before his shift last noight. Both doors in are locked and... eh, we don't wanna pay for a new door. We've been tryin' tah get in all day without breakin' the lighthouse itself. No luck," Cap'n Brine continued. Understanding dawned on us as he looked at us expectantly.

"...w-why do you even have a door? No one uses those!" Rye said after a minute.

"Lad, you're from a noice town where ya don' have to worry 'bout that kinda malarkey. You 'ave no oidea how many 'mon like to go in and mess with Flaaffy while he's on duty. Better safe than sorry," Brine defended. Rye groaned in response.

"Isn't there another way, sir?"

"Sorry, but I won't be flyin' you two till ya find a way to go in and unlock the loighthouse."

As Brine watched, we began looking the lighthouse over. Any windows that might have provided a sufficient entrance were misshapen and small, and by the looks of it, trying to get one of the Wingulls flying around the harbor to fly in wouldn't end well for the structure. Sighing dejectedly, Rye crumpled against the lighthouse's base, only for his eyes to snap back open. Staring at his hand on the structure, he brightened up. As we looked on, he threw our bag onto the ground and placed his other hand against the wall before pulling himself up. His hands somehow stuck in place, so he put his feet to the wall to continue his climb up the tower. Beside me, Cap'n Brine gave a hearty chortle.

"Hoho, should 'ave thought o' that, otherwise I'd prob'ly've made the errand harder!" he boomed. Noticing my obliviousness, he beamed at me as Rye continued his steady climb.

"Treeckos have lil' hooks on their feet they use to stick to walls, didn't ya know?" he asked.

_'Treeckos aren't native to... uh, wherever I'm from, are they? How should I know that?'_

I shook my head, causing Brine's enthusiasm to melt away a bit.

"Ah, roight... the kid found ya in the woods, makes sense ye wouldn't know that one, eh?" he asked.

_'...had to bring that one up, huh?'_

Unpleasant memories of my meltdown not quite two hours ago quickly bubbled up as I looked to him, disgust on my face.

"Shyaa..." I said in a huff. Cap'n Brine cleared his throat in response, which consisted of him disgustingly hacking from somewhere deep within his massive bill.

"Not sayin' there's anything wrong with that, y'know. Oi've 'eard what everyone says 'bout your type, but in me eyes, as long as you can tell me the difference between port and starboard, you're perfectly foine! You do know the difference, don'tcha? Go on an' point tah starboard for me," he said.

_'Shit. Uh... starboard sounds like a left-y term, right?'_

I reluctantly gestured to the left, earning another jovial chuckle from Brine.

"Ah, close 'nuff! No need tah worry, laddie!" he piped.

My respect for the captain restored, I turned back to the lighthouse, watching as Rye carefully squeezed himself through the lowest window. He suddenly disappeared into the opening as a crash sounded from inside. A few minutes passed before the lighthouse's door flew open to reveal a visibly dirtied and shaken Rye, clutching a bulky key in his hand. Cap'n Brine snatched it away before turning towards the port proper and letting out a loud caw. As Rye dusted himself off, a Flaaffy hobbled up to us before stopping before Brine, shame clear in his face.

"Now wot 'ave we learned?" Brine asked. The Flaaffy didn't answer, instead sighing, taking the key, and waddling into the lighthouse, slamming the door behind him. With that out of the way, Brine hopped over to a Wingull who had been watching the ordeal.

"Piku, I'm goin' somewhere, yer in charge till oi get back!" he ordered, prompting a quick salute from the Wingull as he turned to us.

"Now, then, stand to attention!" he barked. "I'd say without any breaks, we'll be in Bassa Village boi night. You will be responsible for yaself, so if any of you lads fall out, that's yer own fault."

Now visibly nervous, Rye raised his hand.

"H-how are we supposed to hang on to your back for that long?" he asked.

"Well, now, oi nevah said you'd be ridin' on me back!" Brine piped. He then opened his massive bill and gestured for us to climb in. Neither of us volunteered to go in, as I instead stared dumbfounded for a moment, wondering just what we had gotten ourselves into.

"...well, come on, now! Oi'm not gonna swallow ya!" Brine said after a little while of our horrified hesitation.

Swallowing hard and uttering a small prayer, I relented, slowly climbing feetfirst into his bill. The place was warm, damp, and reeked of seaweed and fish, but it seemed there was just barely enough room inside for Rye and I, a notion that was proven when Rye followed me inside, bag in hand and whispering mortified obscenities under his breath. As we adjusted ourselves as to not fall backwards, Cap'n Brine looked over a crude compass in his foot, positioning himself to face away from the setting sun before tossing it into his bill, hitting me in the head with it before the sudden lurch of his taking off left Rye and I clutching the edge of his bill for dear life as to not fall backwards into his throat.

The howling of the wind just barely drowned out our screams as Brine began building speed by circling the port. As the wind in my face forced my eyes shut, I felt him begin to decelerate and steady out. Opening my eyes, I was met with a view of the lake stretching as far as I could see below us. I could make out dozens of tiny boats trailing along its clear waters and the port shrinking to nothing more than a group of small shapes on the side as we flew ever higher.

"Wow..." Rye whispered beside me. Cap'n Brine made a few assuring noises, not risking talking with us in his mouth. Tolerating the stench, we got as close to a seated position as we could as I picked Brine's compass up and began fidgeting with it, settling in for a long, uncomfortable flight.

* * *

Despite the less than favorable conditions of our transport, Rye and I both found ourselves drifting off. After a couple of hours, I awoke from a dreamless nap to a loud squawk from Cap'n Brine. My ears ringing, I groggily sat up to see what was the matter, only to wake Rye up with my own loud scream. By the looks of it, we were now flying over the desert, or rather, we were barreling uncontrollably towards the sand as Brine tried to stabilize himself in midair. As we quickly realized this wasn't working, Rye dropped down and curled into a ball, his tail over his head.

"G-get down!" he yelled. I obeyed without question, only just managing to curl my tail over my head before Brine hit the ground, sending Rye and I flying out of his bill and tumbling onto sweet solid ground. Groaning as we pushed ourselves off the sand, we noted that night had fallen by this point, allowing the thankfully close town's torchlight to make itself known.

"Agh. Sorry 'bout that, oi 'aven't flown like that in a long, long toime," Cap'n Brine groaned apologetically, dislodging himself from the sand. As we picked up the scattered contents of our bag, a loud whistle suddenly sounded from the town.

"Hey! You there!" a low feminine voice called. We snapped our heads up to find a figure approaching us from the town gate, flashing something shiny towards us.

"Bassa Village Police. What's a bunch like you doin' out here at this time of day?" it asked suspiciously. As we watched nervously, the features of a Feraligatr with a badge-adorned sash over its shoulder became evident. Cap'n Brine limped forwards to meet the newcomer.

"Evenin', officer. Oi was joss flyin' these young lads here for... what'd ya say it was? A Guild mission?" he said. The Feraligatr relaxed as she looked us over, her jaws shifting.

"Mm. Explorers..." she grunted. "I suppose you're the ones Magnezone sent to help deal with those asshats from earlier today." As she spoke, I heard a small gasp from Rye.

"Uh... er, y-y... yes, ma'am," he choked out. He was noticeably pressed up against Cap'n Brine, keeping his eyes trained on Officer Feraligatr as if she were about to pounce on him. Instead, she offered a courteous nod.

"Well, I reckon there's nothing wrong with letting you stay the night, then. The desert gets mighty frigid around this time, I'd best take you to my place. Let's discuss the outlaws tomorrow morning over breakfast," she said as she gestured us to follow her into the town.

As we walked after her, I took a glance up at the town's gate. It seemed to have been made of several large pieces of metallic trash welded together into an arch, the main feature being a large green sign attached to the top. It was too dark to see clearly, but I could tell whatever was written on it wasn't footprint runes. They looked familiar in a way, actually...

Officer Feraligatr took notice of my curiosity and offered a small smirk, though trying this with her crocodile maw just came across as unnerving.

"Yeah, Bassa here was built around an old human town. Just about every building here was built on the foundations of some human structure. Apparently even the town's name has human influence, I'm told the sign up there says something like 'Bassa' in Unown-script," she explained as she stopped in front of an unorthodox but modest house just past the gate. As I watched, she threw the door open and waved us in.

"Pelipper, you can roost on the roof, the others can sleep wherever. Get comfy, and keep in mind you'll be responsible for getting yourselves up tomorrow. I'll be waiting at the cafe whenever..."

She trailed off as she got a proper look at us in the torchlight. It didn't take long for me to realize that her now wide-eyed gaze was fixed on Rye. As her breath shook a bit, Feraligatr stared him down for a minute, prompting Rye to stumble backwards into the street, his face pale. As he did this, Feraligatr let out a soft sigh and headed inside.

"Oi, wot was that 'bout?" Cap'n Brine asked.

"It's nothing. Just thought I recognized Treecko there," Feraligatr called over her shoulder.

She didn't elaborate further, as she simply put her sash away and curled up in a large straw bed next to a lit fireplace. Rye let out a noise somewhere between a relieved sigh and a choked sob as I helped him up. Sending me a familiar pleading look, he headed into the house. Deciding as usual that I'd pursue this later, I followed him in as Cap'n Brine fluttered up to the roof. Finding a comfy spot in the living area, I curled up and shut my eyes, pondering what tomorrow would bring as I started to drift off...

And then Feraligatr started loudly snoring in her sleep.

_'...just great.'_


	16. Law and Chaos

A long, sleep-deprived night passed before I was woken up from a light sleep by the scorching desert sun in my eyes. Letting out a weary moan as I sat up to blink the colored spots out of my eyes, I noticed Rye was already sitting idly across from me, leaning out the window to talk with who I guessed was Cap'n Brine. He quickly noticed me and got to his feet.

"Morning, Beck. Uh, we're all up a little earlier than expected, I guess," he chuckled.

"That's fah the best, eh," Cap'n Brine's voice rang from outside the window. "Back when I was a wee Wingull servin' in the Ten Years War, they'd throw yeh into the water if ya snoozed out at sea. Now, you go an' get a move on, Feraligatr's prolly waitin' for ya." Rye looked back out with a start.

"What? Y-you're not...?" he asked.

"Ah, Feraligatr said she'd bring me an Oran while me leg quits smarting," he responded. "She said she'd be o'er at the cafe joss down the street."

Rye, his prior cheeriness gone, swallowed hard and nodded, prompting the Pelipper to presumably fly back up to the roof. As we collected our things, I couldn't help but notice how nervous he seemed to be about what was coming. Handing our bag to him, I put my paw on his arm.

"Shaa," I said reassuringly, only to be met with a forlorn gaze. I didn't understand what this was about; I mean, Officer Feraligatr was pretty nice from what I could tell, why was Rye...

_'...oh. Feraligatr._

_Yeah, should have figured.'_

With this in mind, I followed Rye out into the arid morning air. As the police-mon had said, Bassa Village did seem to be built around the sun-bleached ruins of an old town; even the roads had patches of faded asphalt. As for Feraligatr's house, it looked to have been built on top of a concrete foundation, maybe an old apartment or shop. Of course, most of the ruins seemed to have been worn down by years of erosion, though I guessed the Pokémon that had taken up residence here had worked to preserve what was left. With sunlight now making my surroundings clear, I could clearly see the fragmented Unown-script in the architecture around me. Although only limited to a few faded letters, they held a twinge of familiarity to them, unlike the strange footprint runes. Maybe if I got up closer, I could actually read them...?

I couldn't actually do this, as I ended up tripping over a passing Sandile when I tried. Earning a scraped leg and a dubious look from Rye, I got to my feet and kept trudging along. It wasn't long after that when we found the restaurant Cap'n Brine had mentioned, where Officer Feraligatr was waiting at a table for us. She offered a cock of her head and a small nod of greeting as we found a seat across from her.

"You're here early. Haven't even gotten my food yet," she muttered. handing us a couple of small cups.

"Tea? Wasn't cheap, it's made from Energy Roots," she offered. Reluctantly taking a sip, I quickly spit it out as a bitter taste attacked my tongue. While the herbs in the tea did make me feel more awake, I decided I'd settle for the water provided instead. As an unamused Feraligatr looked on, Rye cleared his throat.

"S-so... uh, you wanted to talk to us, ma'am?" he asked.

"Mhm, about the outlaw mission. Say, which Guild you in from?" Feraligatr questioned.

"Uh, Arcanine's."

An amused grin crossed Feraligatr's maw as she leaned forward.

"So I guess that'd make you Team Reach, then," she said.

"Hwha?" I asked, only for her to smirk and nod.

"Yup, definitely Reach. Heard about you from explorers from Arcanine's," she said before glancing over to me.

"So, Treecko here really found you in a dungeon, then?" she asked me. I nodded slowly and shamefully, getting another warm but slightly unnerving smile.

"Well, if you didn't piss on my floor last night, then you're good in my book," she reasoned. "Now, then, those outlaws you two came here for. To be honest, I'm a little bummed you're taking care of these guys, not much has happened 'round here since Tyranitar's armies left fifteen years back. The outlaws tried to rob the Kecleon in town square, then booked it yesterday. We've already gone and looked through their little nest, and we've tracked them to the Arid Riverbed dungeon just north of here. Now, where you come in: if the rescue team that stopped by earlier doesn't find them, you will."

As we took in this information, a Diggersby who had suddenly appeared by our table plopped a tray of food in front of her.

"Right after I finish this," she quickly added before she started to messily shovel the eggs and meat into her jaws, much to mine and Rye's horrified disgust.

Sparing the details, I'll just say I was glad all that was in my stomach at the time was root tea and water.

* * *

"You're askin' if oi can fly ya to the dungeon? You sayin' I'm 'bout tah let a lil' tumble get me down after oi flew all the way here? Oi, yah've cut me deep, laddies," Cap'n Brine said.

After sitting through Officer Feraligatr's grotesque display of sustenance, we had followed her back to her house to consult Cap'n Brine about carrying us to Arid Riverbed. Evidently, he didn't need much convincing. Pulling out a map, Feralgatr pointed to a small spot just above what I could guess was Bassa Village.

"Arid Riverbed's five miles north of here. If Pelipper's right about how fast he can fly, then I'd say it'll be a ten-minute flight at the longest," she told us.

As we prepared our bag and senses for another trip in Brine's bill, Feraligatr pulled me aside and squatted down to meet my gaze.

"How are you in a fight, Oshawott?" she asked. "Arid Riverbed's mostly Ground and Rock-types, but I'd still want to make sure I could hold my own."

My less-than-stellar performance in Amber Meadow flashed through my head. I shrugged, prompting a hum from Feraligatr.

"Okay, then. Get your... er, shell thing and get into a stance," she said. I reluctantly pulled my scalchop off my chest and got into the requested battle stance. Feraligatr clicked her tongue as she looked over me.

"For starters, your grip on the shell there is ass, you won't be able to strike as well as you could otherwise and you'll end up tearing away at it; look, you've already started to there. Also, that stance is too wide, you aren't balanced at all," she said. To prove this, she put her hand on my chest and gave a hard push, sending me falling backwards with a yelp. Groaning, I got back to my feet as Feraligatr watched.

"Back into stance," she ordered.

"Shaagh..." I whined as I returned to my footing. Looking behind me, all I got was a sympathetic look from Rye. Without any other option, I tried to take Feraligatr's advice, only to end up back on the sand. Frustratedly repeating the process, I narrowed my stance further. Receiving another push from Feraligatr, I merely stumbled back this time. Giving me a satisfied grin, she then picked my scalchop up off the sand and grasped it by its tail end.

"You see this? This is how you were holding this thing. This is a proper grip, here," she said, adjusting her grip so that it was wrapped around a side end of the scalchop.

"Don't know much about this thing, but I'm assuming it's like most other melee weapons in that it works best like this. Sure, you might find it a bit hard holding it like this since you, uh, don't have fingers yet, but..."

She proceeded to swing the scalchop into a nearby wall with a loud yell, leaving a deep gash.

"I think the results pay off."

As Rye shuddered behind me, she tossed the scalchop back into my paws.

"That's about all I've got for you, Oshawott. Last time I tried teaching techniques, half the station got blown sky-high," she said. She then seemed to notice Rye out of the corner of her eye and turned to him. He shrunk back as she approached him.

"How 'bout you, Treecko? I'm a Water-type, but I think I can..."

She trailed off as Rye scrambled away to cower behind Cap'n Brine. Feraligatr just gave him a long stare in response, her eyes turning soft and sad. As she sighed and straightened herself up, she turned to Brine.

"Alright, Pelipper, stay outside of the dungeon and keep an eye out. If they don't come back by nightfall, come back and tell me, and I'll do what I can," she requested. Rye's head snapped up from behind Brine in response.

"Y-you're not coming?" he warily asked. Feraligatr's expression turned sullen as she hung her head.

"Urgh... I'm sorry, Treecko. I don't do mystery dungeons. Nothing against you two, it's just... my little brother got killed by the one in Mount Twist... I can't..."

Rye reluctantly put his hand on her back, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I... uh, i-it's okay, w-we get it..." he said quietly. Feraligatr gave a small smile.

"Thanks for understanding, kid," she muttered. With that, she got up and started for the road as Cap'n Brine made his final preparations. As Rye stared off beside me, I went to pick up our bag, only to find it seemed heavier than usual. Confused, I opened it, only to be met with a small mix of seeds and berries that most definitely hadn't been there this morning.

"Sh-sha!" I called after Feraligatr. She turned around and gave us one last crocodile smile.

"Keep 'em. You'll need them. A Reviver Seed ain't bad, but it's not enough, either," she called before she turned onto the road and disappeared behind her house. Rye and I exchanged looks before we turned to climb into Cap'n Brine's still foul-smelling bill. As we adjusted ourselves, Rye stopped sulking for a minute to scrunch his nose.

"Beck, please remind me to bring mint if we ever fly like this again," Rye whispered to me as we felt the lurch of Brine's taking off.

* * *

The flapping of wings prompted Feraligatr to stop and look over her shoulder to watch Brine fly away, Team Reach peeking out of his bill. Taking a moment to watch them shrink into the distance, she stoically sighed.

"That Treecko..." she muttered to herself.

Surely that couldn't have been him, right? The Treecko she had known back in Twistfoot Town those years ago had been so much more confident and outgoing than this one, and he wouldn't have ever allowed himself to not evolve for all these years... then again, that fear and sadness in his eyes when he was around her...

"No. It wasn't him... couldn't have been..."

She clenched her fists as she continued down the road towards the station. As she reached the building, she took another look up at the now barely visible Cap'n Brine against the noon sky. Staring for another moment, she hung her head.

"...if it's really you... I know you can't hear me, but I didn't mean what I said, I was young and rash. If I had known what that would do to you..." she whispered before slinking into the building. Ignoring her coworkers' hails, she sat down and let out a long, shaky sigh.

"If it's really you, Rye... I may have said otherwise, but it wasn't your fault..."

* * *

As Feraligatr had said, the flight to Arid Riverbed was short and painless, a good five minutes at least. After a far smoother landing on Cap'n Brine's end, we climbed out of his bill to find ourselves on a stone path that, as with Amber Meadow, was adorned with a large warning sign and slowly dissolved as it trailed into the mystery dungeon. Unlike the Meadow, however, there was a small outpost just off to the side, presumably for explorers like us.

"Ye laddies stay safe, now. Oi'd hate to have ya get your guts eaten out, y'know," Cap'n Brine said as we looked down the road. Spitting out our bag, he headed into the outpost, leaving us alone. Rye turned to give me an unsure look.

"Y-you sure we're ready for this, Beck?" he questioned. I gave him a reassuring smile in response, Feraligatr's advice having filled me with confidence.

"Shyah!" I declared. With that, Rye, giving me a nervous sideways glance, started forwards as I followed, my head held high.

_'Don't you worry, Rye, we'll do this, we can't not do this. We've gone too far to disappoint. This can't be any worse than Amber Meadow, can it? Show us what you've got, Arid Riverbed!'_

* * *

**Arid Riverbed**

**1F**

_'I may have gotten just a bit too confident.'_

Within minutes of our entering Arid Riverbed, we had found a light breeze picking up. This breeze had quickly intensified, turning into a large sandstorm as we trudged on through the dungeon. We quickly found ourselves grateful that the dungeon's paths were marked by deep trenches snaking through the ground, though the sand flowing in from above was a fair concern of ours.

We only ran into a couple of Drilbur during our unpleasant trudge, which we were able to chase off with simple Water Guns and Mega Drains. Despite our luck in this regard, we still found ourselves getting struck by the occasional flying rock, leaving several bleeders around my body. While Rye was about as miserable as I was, he at least didn't have to worry about having fur. Twenty minutes of this had left me with just short of a metric fuckton of sand in my fur coat, no doubt discoloring my figure and leading to some quite unpleasant smarting as it got into my wounds. Worse still was the idea that I'd probably be leaving random sand particles wherever I went for the next month at least.

At present, we were trying to feel around a larger chamber with our eyes clenched shut, as to not sting them any further with flying sand. Squinting ahead, I noticed a large, dark shape ahead.

_'A staircase!'_

"Rye! Sh-" I started to yell over the wind, though this quickly devolved into spitting and coughing as a cloud of sand flew into my mouth. Rye seemed to get the message, though, and grabbing my paw, dragged me up the staircase, eager to hopefully escape the storm.

* * *

**Arid Riverbed**

**2F**

_'Hah, of course not.'_

The second floor was, of course, not much different from the first. More annoying ferals, more stinging, more envying Rye's scaly hide. This kept consistent to the point that I started to suspect this whole dungeon was just some cruel joke designed to annoy anyone who went in. However, the first sign that this wouldn't be just the annoyance I had expected came about ten minutes after we entered the floor. We were trying to navigate through a large valley in the sand as per usual when the monotony was broken in an unwelcome way.

"CROOHK!"

A loud roar rang over the howling of the wind. Forcing our eyes open, we spun around to find ourselves faced with a Krokorok, swishing its tail and snapping its jaws in challenge. Used to this by now, we charged in for an attack, hitting the Krokorok in the chest. Unfortunately, it seemed it wasn't alone, as two others followed close behind, and they clearly weren't very happy about our attacking their leader. Before we could do anything, they pounced on us.

With a powerful Mud-Slap, I was sent flying down a nearby path, one of the Krokorok taking notice and chasing after me. Panicking, I fired off a Water Gun at the beast, only for it to simply wince and continue stomping after me. Backing down the hall and into another valley, I pulled my scalchop off my chest and prepared to strike.

_'You grip on the shell there is ass.'_

Feraligatr's words echoed through my mind as I realized that, contrary to her advice, I was gripping the shell by its tail end. Gritting my teeth, I backed further into the valley as to buy more time to readjust my grip. The Krokorok charged at me, its black eyes trained on my own as it opened its jaws for a Bite attack. Just as it got close enough to attack, I swung my scalchop and struck it on the roof of its mouth. It roared in pain and jumped back as blood began to dribble out of its mouth. Taking advantage of this, I fired another Water Gun into its face, finally taking down the monster.

As I stood there panting over the bloodied Krokorok, the adrenaline from the encounter began to wear off. I again became aware of the stinging of my wounds, the sand that had blown into my mouth, and the jagged pebbles that lodged themselves into my flesh. However, as I began to return to coherence, that wasn't my main concern at the time.

"Rye?" I called out.

No response was heard over the howling wind.

"RYE!"

Still nothing. I ran to go up the hall I had gone down, only to find two paths presented before me. My eyes burning from the sand, I stared hopelessly at the twin trenches as the weight of what had just happened hit me like a Machamp's Dynamic Punch.

I was lost in a mystery dungeon, I was stuck in the middle of a sandstorm, and my friend, who not only was my only company but also had the bag, was who knows where by now, probably suffering some painful fate at the paws of those Krokorok.

…

…

Fuck.


	17. Riverbed Rumpus

**Arid Riverbed**

**2F**

"CROOOHK!"

Two small figures spun around at the loud roar from a room behind them. The smaller one, a Shroomish, stared back through the sandstorm before she quickly tore their Toolbox off her partner's back and started running down the path.

"Oww, that hurt... h-hey, wait, where you going?" said partner asked hurriedly.

"Someone's getting attacked back there! Stay here, don't let any ferals sneak up on me!"

"What? But... aww..."

The Sandshrew slumped his shoulders as his partner disappeared into the clouds of sand. He eventually settled on burrowing himself into the hot ground, sticking his little head just out of the sand as he scowled after his friend.

"Humph. You're no fun..."

* * *

"Croohk! Croooh-ook!"

The two visibly bruised Krokoroks, their dark eyes burning with primal rage, barked and growled as they continued to stalk towards a panicking Rye. He had managed to keep the beasts at bay for a good bit at this point, though he was beginning to grow tired. Aside from the physical damage he had taken, the stress of the situation was taking its toll. He had last seen Beck clambering down a pathway and being pursued by one of the Krokoroks, and there had been no sign of him since. Seeing as he was now backed into a corner, having his company really would have helped right now.

With no other option, Rye leapt at one of the two Krokoroks, his hands glowing sightly as he used a Mega Drain on the foe. He shivered slightly as he felt his wounds close up, the Krokorok below him tumbling to the ground unconscious. He didn't have much time to revel in this victory, as the other Krokorok let out a furious roar.

Before Rye could do anything, he was tackled to the ground by the monster, which quickly clamped its jaws around his neck. Rye quickly realized what was happening: he had only heard of this happening before: ferals in dungeons attacking not simply to show superiority or knock someone unconscious for a dungeon to take.

This Krokorok was going to kill him.

As if in response to this realization, the Krokorok bit down as hard as it could on Rye's neck. With a loud, painful crunch, it gave a satisfied grunt, then threw him aside to dig through his bag. Rye twitched as he uselessly grabbed at his broken neck, his fading mind scrambling to find a way out of this. Despite that, he knew that no amount of siphoned energy would be able to heal a broken neck in time to save him.

_'No... I... I can't...'_

He went limp as everything went black...

_Crack!_

...and immediately found himself on his feet gasping in sweet air, only stopping because of the sand in the air. The Krokorok, which had been digging through his bag, stepped back in shock from the equally surprised Treecko. Not a scratch was left on his body, and even the prior exhaustion he had felt was around frantically, he noticed a wispy yellow smoke rising from a cracked seed in the sand. The now-spent Reviver Seed quickly began to disappear under the sand, though what was done was done.

Rye let out a strangled scream of rage as he charged at the Krokorok, swiping at it with several consecutive Quick Attacks. As it regained its composure, he struck it in its muzzle with a hard Pound, knocking out a few of its teeth. The Krokorok let out another furious roar in response, snapping together its blood-covered jaws. It staggered at Rye, only to keel forward with a pained screech. A large seed of some kind ricocheted off the beast's head, leaving it unconscious on the ground. Rye could make out the shape of a Shroomish with a ribbon tied around the tufts on its head, presumably the source of the Bullet Seed, as it ran over to him from the other side of the valley.

"Are you okay? Did it hurt you?" the Shroomish asked hurriedly. His anger dissipating, a now-shaking Rye could only gesture to the crimson-stained sand behind him before falling to his knees, producing something between laughter and crying as the newcomer looked on, horrified.

"Oh... I-I'm so sorry..." she stammered before catching sight of the half-buried seed on the ground as it let out the last of its golden wisps. She let out a relieved sigh as Rye began to come back to his senses.

"Beck... h-he didn't... he's still..." he muttered.

"Uh... don't worry, you're okay now. I'm part of a rescue team, we can help find your friend!" the Shroomish said reassuringly. Rye stared wide-eyed, at a loss from this stroke of luck.

_'What the actual... wait, Si- er, Ms. Feraligatr did mention a rescue team was going on this mission, didn't she? Huh...'_

"Th-thank you..." he eventually managed out.

Getting to his feet, Rye began picking through the sand to retrieve what he could from his spilled bag. As the Shroomish quickly joined him, Rye caught one last glimpse of the spent Reviver Seed before it was buried by the blowing sand.

"I guess I owe you one, Murkrow..." he admitted under his breath.

* * *

"Rye! Ryy-"

My calls were quickly cut off by my own coughing and hacking, as the now unfortunately familiar feeling of sand filling my throat left me spitting out much-needed water in my futile attempts to get it out. Maybe half an hour had gone by since I had been separated from Rye, and my situation wasn't getting any better. I was seriously beginning to regret not eating anything during breakfast with Officer Feraligatr, and the water I had drank then was all but spent in the scorching desert sun. Nevertheless, I trudged along, hoping that I'd stumble across the staircase by some miracle.

Slowly pushing myself onward despite my fatigued body's protesting, I couldn't help but notice the odd lack of ferals in the halls, as opposed to most of my past experiences with dungeons. As I was contemplating this, I noticed something off about the scenery ahead of me. Squinting through the thick clouds of sand, I found that by the side of the path, a Scraggy laid unconscious, bruises and cuts covering its form. Even at the revelation that my path was clear, I felt a pang of dread rise up inside me.

_'If something's taking out the ferals here, then what's to say it won't come after me?'_

With this in mind, I noticed something off about the Scraggy's body.

_'Is its skin supposed to bulge like that?'_

Walking over and pushing its loose skin aside, I quite nearly yelled for joy when I was met with an apple. Excitement running high, I snatched it, only to notice the apple was strangely purpled and bloated in several areas that dripped a sickly viscous liquid.

_'...eugh. Not like I have much of a choice.'_

I reluctantly started trying to eat around the purple areas, reveling in the unspoiled juices flowing down my dried throat. Unfortunately, this didn't last long, as a sudden foul taste joined these pleasantries, followed a painful tingling sensation which quickly started spreading down my now-cringing body.

_'Poison... as if the sandstorm weren't enough...'_

Groaning pitifully at my luck, I kept moving forwards. A stabbing pain went through my body as the poisoning kicked in.

_"N-no! Get up, I know you can do it! Please, I-"_

My head snapped up at the sudden voice echoing through my head.

 _'Was... was that a memory?'_ Another pang of poisoning hit me as I cringed again.

_"Rohh..."_

_"...no... he can't..."_

_"SCOOLL!"_

_"...nonono... graaaAAAGH!"_

As the flashback climaxed, I found myself sprawled on the ground, clutching my gut tightly in imaginary pain. Relaxing my body, I stared at my trembling paws.

_'...what was that? The pain... w-was that how I... died?'_

Thinking back to my first day in this world, I recalled that, yes, I did remember having been poisoned somehow before waking up here, presumably causing what I assumed was my human death. Maybe the poisoning here had somehow brought the memory back? What exactly had happened? Could something that happened there have sent me here?

I couldn't think long, as I quickly noticed several small mounds of sand beside me, one of them misshapen from when I had apparently tripped over it. Hoping that I'd be able to find a Pecha or something buried with whatever was in there, I crawled towards one...

Only for the mound to open a pair of beady blue eyes and stare straight at me.

"Shaagh!" I yelled, jumping backwards in shock. The mound shifted as I realized that what I was looking at was not, in fact, a mound, but a small head peeking out of the ground, camouflaged to blend in with the sand. As I watched in bewilderment, a figure rose from the sand, revealing itself as a Sandshrew with a very dirty bandanna tied around its neck and grasping a long metal thorn.

_'Oh, thank Xerneas, someone that can help...'_

"Stop right there, feral scum!" the Sandshrew exclaimed as he swung the Iron Thorn around, his squeaky voice cracking as he did so.

"...wha?" I managed, unsure if what I was seeing was just some poisoned-induced hallucination.

"I am this pathway's guardian, and you're gonna have to get through me to... hey, wait, where you going?"

Not wishing to provoke this newcomer further, I pushed myself off the ground and started the other way. However, the self-proclaimed guardian quickly ran to my side and brandished his Thorn.

"D-don't ignore me! I, the mighty Sandshrew of Cesaree City, order you to fight me!" he said, his weapon wobbling haphazardly in his paw. I stared at him, even more confused than before.

_'Is this kid serious?'_

I tried to form a response, only to cough violently as another pang of poisoning ran through me. My stomach churned as the Sandshrew cocked his head, putting away his weapon.

"Uh, you okay?" he asked. I responded with a burning glare, causing him to jump back.

"Wait, wait, I'm sorry, don't eat me!" he yelped. Rolling my eyes, I kept trudging on, hoping to at least see the stairs before I dropped, but my new companion quickly caught up.

"Hey, if we're not gonna fight, you think you can-"

"Shaaah!" I screamed at him, hoping to at least get him away for a second. The Sandshrew was undeterred.

"Oh. You really are a feral, huh? Uh... you haven't tried to eat me yet, so... er, are you a nice one, then?"

Groaning, I nodded, hoping he'd leave me alone now. He did not, as it only seemed to make him more excited.

"Wow, cool! Ooh, you can be my wing-mon while I look for my friend!"

"Sh-shaagh..." I moaned as Sandshrew skipped along ahead of me. As I tried to follow, another hit of poisoning struck me. As I vomited out what little was in my stomach, Sandshrew finally seemed to notice what was wrong.

"Oh, you're poisoned... uh... hey, I think my friend might have something for that in our Toolbox! Let's go find her now!" he said joyfully, continuing to run ahead.

As the combined effects of fatigue, poison, and the sandstorm stung at me, I just stared ahead after him.

_'What have I gotten myself into?'_

* * *

Not far away, Rye hobbled after Shroomish tiredly, stinging sand still blowing against the both of them.

"He should be just down this hall, assuming he hasn't run off again," Shroomish said. As he had for most of this trip, Rye remained silent, staring off and only responding with a nod and a quiet hum. A mildly worried Shroomish looked back at him.

"You don't talk much, huh? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Uh, n-no, it's nothing," Rye responded. Shroomish cocked her head, or rather tilted her body slightly.

"If you wanna talk about it..." she said.

"I-it's personal," Rye managed. Shroomish gave him a glance before nodding a bit.

"Hm, alright. You can talk to me, y'know. I mean, my partner's a bit of a pain in the butt, so it'd be nice to have someone else to... er, talk with."

Rye looked on confusedly as they continued.

"Why's that?" he asked. Shroomish shuddered a bit.

"Well, don't tell him I said this, but let's just say he's... how do I put this... not exactly the sharpest. He never shuts up, sees himself as some destined savior or something, and likes charging headlong into situations before he can think them over," she mused flatly. "How about yours?"

"Well... uh... he's quiet, I guess. Tries his best to help me out... and uh, I-I guess that last part applies a bit," Rye replied.

"How so?"

"W-well, the both of us wouldn't be lost like this if he had stopped to think about it, I think."

Shroomish snorted as they approached yet another path.

"Just my grain of salt, tell him to shove it next time he tries. Let him get too comfortable and you'll never forgive yourself, trust me," she said.

As Rye thought this over, a loud clang echoed along the path's walls, followed by an indiscernible demand from a Pokémon through the clouds of dust. Shroomish rolled her eyes.

"I think we found him."

* * *

"Can you say any words?" Sandshrew asked me over his shoulder.

"Shagh," I said between clenched teeth, clutching my throbbing head.

"Is that a yeah?"

"Eaugh..."

"Haha, don't worry, Oshawott, if... eh, I don't wanna call you Oshawott, can I call you Blubby?"

I put my paws to my face in exasperation as Sandshrew continued to talk incessantly.

_'If this poisoning can just knock me out right now, honestly, I won't complain.'_

Sandshrew suddenly stopped talking as he paused to listen through the wind. The faint sound of footfalls and an unfamiliar voice was just barely discernible through the howling, prompting Sandshrew to pull out his Iron Thorn and swing it, hitting the wall with a horrible screech.

"Who goes there?!" he demanded. A moment passed before two dark figures cautiously approached us.

"It's L- er, it's Shroomish," the voice from before said. Sandshrew stood tall and crossed his arms, getting his Iron Thorn too close to me for comfort.

"Ha-ha, you can't fool me! You're probably just a Ditto or a Zorua, and you're pretending to be her!" he boasted.

"Sandshrew, I swear..." the voice groaned.

"Come forth and face the mighty Sandshrew, and prove that-"

Sandshrew didn't finish, as a small seed flew from the smaller figure and hit him in the gut, sending him to the ground.

"Oww! Why do you always do it so hard..." he moaned. With the only real danger sprawled on the floor with tears in his eyes, the two figures stepped forwards, revealing themselves as a Shroomish and...

My eyes widened as I let out a relieved, disbelieving laugh.

"Rye!" I managed, trying to run forward, only to end up on the sand in a coughing fit. Blood droplets sprayed out of my mouth as Rye and Shroomish looked on horrified.

"Oh... o-oh, no..." Rye stammered, throwing his bag down to dig through it. As he searched, Sandshrew cocked his head.

"So does this mean that you're already this guy's wing-mon, Blubby?" Sandshrew asked. I didn't bother responding as Rye pulled a Pecha and forced it into my mouth. Slowly chewing it, I reveled in the sweet juices I at least knew weren't poisoned.

"It should take a bit to kick in, j-just try not to do too much, alright?" Rye asked. As I nodded, we shared a moment of silence before he sighed.

"Just... I-I'm glad to see you didn't... ugh, I used up our Reviver Seed back there, so... g-good thing you didn't need it, huh?" he said quietly.

I managed a small grin as I got to my feet. The pain of the poisoning had mostly subsided thanks to the Pecha, and though I was still injured, I was ready to keep going. As Rye went to pick up our bag, I looked over to see Sandshrew showing off his Iron Thorn to Shroomish, looking quite pleased with his new weapon as Shroomish kept a good distance away, clearly sharing my concerns of what he'd do with the thing. He paused just long enough to catch sight of us, his eyes lightening up.

"I made a new friend while you were gone! Uh, this is Blubby the Oshawott! He can't really speak, but-" he began.

"Wait, he can't speak? Mi... S-Sandshrew, don't tell me you've made friends with a feral..." Shroomish groaned. Sandshrew didn't bother responding, as he quickly caught sight of Rye sifling through our bag.

"Ooh, what're those?" he asked, running over to pick one of our team badges out. Rye immediately snatched it away from him.

"Those are our team badges, th-they're off limits," he growled. Though annoyed at how he couldn't hold it, Sandshrew still seemed intrigued.

"Wait, you're a team, too?" he asked. As Rye nodded, a newly excited Sandshrew struck a pose, prompting a groan from Shroomish.

"Well, I'm the mighty Sandshrew of Cesaree City, scourge of ferals and conqueror of dungeons!" he boasted.

"I'm Shroomish. Just Shroomish. Leader for obvious reasons," his partner said flatly.

"Together, we're Team Creosote! A rescue team!" Sandshrew declared, lofting his Thorn high and trying to roll the 'r's. "What about you?"

Rye looked around nervously.

"Uh... I'm, er, Treecko. I guess I'm the leader. This is my friend Oshawott," he said.

"Shaah," I said, offering a small wave. I didn't quite understand why we weren't using our names, though I assumed there was a decent explanation.

"We're Team Reach. Exploration team," Rye finished, lacking Sandshrew's bravado. The two Creosotes cocked their heads.

"Where are you in from? We're here from Cesaree City, good way across the strait from Gray Proper. Did Ms. Feraligatr send you here, too?" Shroomish said.

"Yeah. Uh, w-we're from Impetus Town," Rye responded. The two of them gave us an unsure look.

"Huh... Impetus... doesn't quite ring a bell. ...a solo team wouldn't base in a town like that, I'm guessing, so... does that mean you're... in a Guild?" Shroomish asked. A confused Rye nodded, only adding to their uncertainty. We stood there in silence until Sandshrew piped up.

"Shroomish said Guildies were no-good jerks who can't do anything themselves. Is that really true?" he asked. Shroomish's beady eyes nearly bulged out of her face as she held back whatever horrid profanities they had where they came from.

"Mizu, I swear by every legend there is, shut it for once or-" she seethed before a painful gust of sandy wind swept over us, causing all of us but Sandshrew to wince.

"Uh, l-let's just try and find the stairs for now, alright?" Rye suggested once we had regained our composure.

A unanimous agreement led our posse down the path, our twin teams trying to provide what pointers they could through the thick clouds of sand. All the while, I limped along, chewing on an Oran and tailing a silent Rye, who stared blankly ahead, that familiar dread in his eyes more prevalent than ever.

_'Rye said he actually died back there... are we really cut out for this?'_

_'...no, no, that was when we were separated, and we have two more Pokémon to help us! We can still do this!_

_...right?'_

Guilt and uncertainty weighing down on my shoulders, I followed after Rye and Team Creosote, praying that whatever waited for us would be at least a little better.

* * *

**Arid Riverbed**

**4F**

_'Finally...'_

Having managed through the third floor's gusts of sandy wind and several ferals, our party was understandably relieved to find that floor four happened to be the floor where the sandstorm passed. Now content that we wouldn't bleed out just by standing around, our traveling partners saw this as an opportune time to stop and talk to us.

"So... you were sent here by a Guild," Shroomish said. Rye snapped out of his distant pondering as he walked straight into me, blinking hard.

"Uh, w-we volunteered, I guess, but-" he started. Sandshrew, being the little shit I had grown to expect, quickly raised his paw to interrupt him.

"Well, we want the reward money! Your guild thing gives you free food, right? We need the money more!" he demanded in his grating voice. Rye and I mentally slapped ourselves; we had basically forgotten that there was a reward here.

"W-what? We can't just give you all of it..." Rye exclaimed. Shroomish pushed Sandshrew aside before he could respond.

"Uh, how's you getting twenty percent sound?" she asked. Rye swallowed hard as their eyes bored into his own. As he struggled to form a response, he caught my eye as I made as reassuring a face as I could. Biting his lip, he turned back to Shroomish.

"Er, f-fifty," he stammered. Shroomish's eyes narrowed.

"Thirty-five."

"F-forty-five."

"Forty."

Rye hesitated a bit before slowly nodding. Giving us a wary look, Shroomish nodded to close the agreement, then turned away to drag Sandshrew along. Rye gave me a small gesture of thanks before we made to follow them.

The further in we went into the floor, I more I noticed Sandshrew watching Rye and I with poorly hidden fascination in his eyes. As we downed what must have been the fifth Sandile on this floor, he raised his paw.

"Uh... who taught you to fight like that?" he asked. Rye looked at him confusedly.

"L-like what?" he asked.

"You know, dodging the bad guys and hitting them at the same time like you just were? Shroomish says that's hard to do, so, uh, do all Guildies know how to do that?" Sandshrew said.

"I was...? It, uh, depends on the Guild."

"Which one are you in?"

Shroomish, seemingly realizing the answer right there, tried to stop Rye before he answered.

"Arcanine's," he said. Shroomish made a face like she had just been hit in the gut with a sledgehammer as Sandshrew began jumping in place.

"Arcanine's Guild?! Do you know Team Frontier? How about Minutemon? Ooh, ooh, what about Apex?" he asked hurriedly. Rye and I exchanged glances.

"Uh, y-yeah, er, I apprenticed with Team Apex..." Rye said. Sandshrew only grew more excited as he got up in our faces.

"D-did you hear about how they started out as robbers and joined a Guild to fight Tyranitar? How many Pokémon were in Pike's charge against Tyranitar's army? Did they tell you about when Arden and May went to beat up Kyurem? Did they really finish Kyurem off by punching him in the face?!"

We started back on our way as he continued to incessantly ask questions, Shroomish letting out a loud groan.

"You see what you did? Now he'll never shut up..." she said quietly.

"W-why did you make a team with him if you... uh, y'know..." Rye asked her. Shroomish gave as close to a shrug as she could manage.

"I have my reasons," she said offhandedly.

As Sandshrew's grating background noise continued, we walked into a small room with a staircase and a growling Scraggy, which Rye and I managed to dispatch without too much trouble, only sustaining a few cuts in the process. Despite our hardships over the previous couple of hours, I was happy to see that we'd at least improved since our first outing. My enthusiasm towards our progress wasn't quite shared with Shroomish, who inched back and kept her distance, keeping Sandshrew behind her as we began up the sandstone steps.

* * *

**Arid Riverbed**

**5F**

The first thing we were greeted with upon entering the floor was the face of a Krokorok. Having just escaped death at the paws of those fuckers, Rye and I jumped back screaming, hurriedly preparing for a fight. However, the first strike never came. As we calmed down, we found out why: the Krokorok was unconscious on the dungeon floor. We examined the monster's body, which was covered in several bruises and deep cuts. Looking at each other, we both seemed to reach the same conclusion: the outlaws we had been chasing were on this floor.

Hesitating as I stared down the hallway before us, I swallowed hard as I grasped my scalchop and started forward. Rye quickly caught my shoulder.

"No, don't," he said.

"Shaa!" I insisted. Surely we had the numbers on our side here, we could take these guys on...

Rye didn't seem to agree, frowning disapprovingly.

"N-no. You're still hurt, and we don't know how strong they are. You shouldn't just charge in like we did this morning," he said. I snapped my head to face him, unsure of what he meant.

"Wha?", I asked. Rye's frown deepened.

"It's just... y-you're too bold, y'know? Th-that's good for some situations, I guess, but I talked with Shroomish while you were gone, and I think you really need to keep it in check. I don't think we'd have had as hard a time back there if you had stopped for a moment and-"

"Sh-sha?!" I demanded. He was blaming me for this? I pointed my paws toward him to communicate my frustration with this logic. Rye's scowl turned into a full-blown glare as he slammed his fist into the nearest wall. I jumped back as his eye twitched.

"I died back there, th-that thing broke my neck! W-we didn't have to do this, Beck! We're only here because you dragged us here! We could've just stayed back at Impetus and nothing would have changed! Look, Team Creosote would have done this for us, no problem! I-I know you wanted to help, but damn it, take a look at yourself and tell me you can honestly do this!" he yelled.

I opened my mouth to snap back, but nothing came out. As Rye's glare quickly morphed into a teary-eyed gaze, my frustration with him turned into horrified realization.

_'...I'm really like that?'_

Rye sighed as he hung his head.

"J-just... think about it, alright?" he choked out. I stood there at a loss as Rye silently shuffled to where Team Creosote stared at the two of us, unsure of what to make of our argument. I averted my eyes from their gaze and looked at my paw, making as best a fist I could.

_'I... I'm sorry, Rye... I'll try my best to think things over more... I promise...'_

As I bit my lip and made that vow, Shroomish quietly pushed past me.

"Uh... c-come on, guys, we can't stick around. Don't want the dungeon taking us, y'know..." she whispered. As Sandshrew shot us an odd look, Rye and I straightened ourselves up and followed them. We silently walked single-file through the tight path, which eventually led us into a massive valley, where nothing awaited us except...

...a Vigoroth and a Poliwrath.

…great.

"Look what just blew in here, ah!" the Vigoroth's deep, drawling voice echoed.

"I betcha they're 'ere to take us in. We didn't commit us a crime, did we? Not poor old innocent me?" the Poliwrath replied. Rye growled, clenching his fists.

"Y-you know what you did! You're c-coming with us!" he said, only to be met with ugly laughter from the two thieves.

"Didn't ask for no input from the peanut gallery, but alright, sure," the Poliwrath said.

"Hah, peanut gallery! Because he's a Grassie, ah?" the Vigoroth wheezed.

"Shaah!" I yelled at them. Rye had suffered enough today, I'd say, and I wasn't about to let these assholes insult him. This only seemed to amuse them further.

"Ha, they threw a feral into the ring! The Societies must be getting desperate if they're lettin' this slide!", Poliwrath exclaimed. I growled to myself as the two howled with laughter.

"Wh-what are you even doing here?! You stole something, why would you idiots go into a dungeon to hide?" Shroomish demanded.

"We're not hiding, we're waiting for our ride. He shouldn't be long gettin' through the dungeon, so we advise you get lost before he shows up, eh. You know, unless you want him to show up to find you all over the floor," Vigoroth said. Sandshrew responded by pulling his Iron Thorn out and pointing it at the crooks.

"Have at you, then!" he said. With that, he charged towards them with a loud battle cry. Presented with no other option, the rest of us followed.

As Sandshrew picked Poliwrath to harass with his Thorn, Rye and I quickly found ourselves getting faces full of Fury Swipes as Vigoroth guffawed over us. Rye responded with a Pound to his face, stunning him long enough for me to hit him in the shoulder with a Water Gun, causing him to step back and hurriedly look over his odds.

Realizing he wouldn't do well outnumbered, Vigoroth looked towards the tight pathway. He slashed at my abdomen, which I managed to avoid, though that only allowed him an opening to run for the pathway. Securing himself in the tight space, he laughed at us.

"Not so tough here, ah?" he said. Angered, we ran after him, only to hear a yell from elsewhere. Looking over, I saw Poliwrath, an Iron Thorn lodged in his belly and Sandshrew's neck in his hands.

"Alright, kid, don't come any closer or your friend gets it, yeah?" he growled to Shroomish. She stood at a loss, not daring to move as the two stared each other down.

"N-no, take him out, I can take it..." Sandshrew said before Poliwrath's grip on his neck tightened, cutting him off. Rye glanced back at me.

"You go for Vigoroth, I'll help them out. We'll join you if we can get Poliwrath down," he whispered before dashing towards the scene. With a Quick Attack coupled with a Pound, he drove the Iron Thorn deeper into Poliwrath's belly, inciting a loud croak of pain from the outlaw. He dropped Sandshrew, who immediately started trying to pull his weapon out.

I didn't watch much longer, though, as Vigoroth's mocking voice echoed from the nearby pathway. I responded to his laughing with a standard Water Gun, which he responded to by rushing up to me and striking my arm with a Slash. Trying my best to tune out the pain, I grabbed my scalchop and tried to slash at Vigoroth's face. He stopped my arm as I made to strike, squeezing it as I struggled. The bones in my arm audibly cracked, pain blossoming as he gave me a cold sneer.

"You honestly thought you could take us on when you're probably not even potty-trained, eh? Welcome to reality, you little shit," he growled.

"Shaak yeh!" I screamed at him, tearing my now-broken arm away from his grip. Needless to say, I knew I realistically wasn't going to win, seeing as my arm was busted, though a thought occurred to me as I prepared to strike him with my scalchop again.

_'If I can't use my arm properly, could I put energy in my scalchop to hit him just as hard?'_

I figured I might as well, trying to focus that now-familiar energy from my inner tide through my arm rather than up to my mouth. I found myself sporting a confident grin as I felt a warm tingling coursing through my arm, though as it approached my paw, it seemed to stop. I tried to push it along, only for the energy to discharge throughout my broken arm.

_'...SWEET ARCEUS!'_

Screaming from the unrelenting pain, I blindly swung my scalchop at Vigoroth. As I panted and moaned from the attack, I noted that my swing wasn't entirely pathetic, almost as if something were guiding it along. My strike had hit Vigoroth's knee, causing far more damage than it should have and sending him into a yowling rage. As I caught my breath and tried to ease the pain in my arm, Vigoroth loomed over me, fury on his face.

"I swear, when I get my paws on you, I'm going to-"

Before he could finish, a pink aura surrounded his form and lifted him up into the air. As I watched in shock, he flew back towards the valley, where Poliwrath was also being hung in the air. Running back into the valley, I joined the others, who were far too fixated on the bizarre scene to pay me much heed. As we stared, the source of this strange event emerged from a nearby pathway: a tall, bird-like Pokémon shaking his head and staring up at the two with no discernible emotion on his face.

"I must say, I am very disappointed with you two," the Xatu said to them. "You divert from your mission, commit petty robbery, and now I come here to find you attacking children, and still you expect me to teleport you out of here." He tsked to himself before Rye gathered the courage to speak up.

"Wh-who are you?" he asked nervously. The Xatu turned his stare to us, prompting a flinch from Rye.

"Why, I am Xatu, an executive of the Phoenix League," he said.

"The what?" Shroomish asked. Xatu cocked his head.

"You have not heard of us. Hm." He paused for a moment, continuing to stare at us as the two crooks above us cursed and flailed. Eventually, he blinked for the first time since we had met and began to slowly walk in a circle around us.

"As a Xatu, I am blessed with the ability to gaze through time itself. I have seen the past many times over, and it was glorious. There was a time where all could live in peace and harmony without worry of a dungeon consuming their town or ferals ripping their loved ones apart. This time, of course, was the age of man. The future, however, is far less certain. Too many possibilities to properly predict. However, most futures have one thing in common: they do not end well. With the absence of man, chaos may reign. That is where we come in," Xatu said. "The Phoenix League is an alliance of likeminded Pokémon from across the Gray Continent and the world who work to restore that harmony that was lost in the Ruin, and to perhaps prevent another Ruin if possible. We wish for nothing more than the old peace of those days to be reborn from the ashes like the phoenix Ho-oh in birth."

Xatu took this moment to gaze back up at Poliwrath and Vigoroth.

"However, you seemed to have missed the training where I explicitly said we do _not_ tolerate petty robbery, especially not from underlings like you. You two will be staying here," he said.

"What?! Mr. Xatu, sir, wait-" Poliwrath began. They were cut off when Xatu jerked his head to the side, prompting the two to scream in agony as their legs were bent in unnatural angles with a loud snap.

"Just so you won't try to run," Xatu told them matter-of-factly, setting the two writhing crooks on the sand. As we watched on, horrified at the grotesque sight, he looked back to us.

"You all have no place in this. Keep that in mind and you will not suffer the same fate. I wish you well, and good day," he said.

Xatu then closed his eyes in concentration before disappearing with a loud rush of wind. Our group stood there in dead silence, the only sound being the groans of Poliwrath and Vigoroth. Sandshrew eventually broke the silence with a quiet sob, burying his face into Shroomish as she tried to comfort him. I eventually tore my eyes away from the scene, clutching my broken arm as Rye ran over to tend to me. Yelping as he pressed down on it to find the fracture, only one thought flashed through my mind.

_'...that happened.'_


	18. A Peaceful Powwow

The sun hung low in the sky over the desert as a dry wind blew through the adventurers' stop at the Arid Riverbed's entrance. The sole occupant of the modest little hut paid it no heed, though, as he exhaled and dramatically spun around for what must have been the twentieth time, beaming to the wall.

"Ahoy, lass, glad tah see ya back! Tried tah warn ye 'bout that river, eh? She's moighty rough these times of day! ...d-day? Oi meant year... agh, cock."

Cap'n Brine stomped on the dusty floor, sighing to himself from deep within his massive bill. Taking a moment to hop over to the watering hole outside the hut, the Pelipper took a quick glance up the road. Team Reach had ventured into the dungeon sometime after noon, but the sun had now dipped so that it was just barely grazing the craggy rock formations of Arid Riverbed.

" _If they don't come back by nightfall, come back and tell me."_

Brine blinked as he mentally repeated Officer Feraligatr's words. Surely they shouldn't be taking this long? What if they'd gotten hurt? He wasn't about to be responsible for a team getting killed in action, was he?

"No, no, they're perfectly capable, oi say. They should know wot they're doin," he muttered to himself. "Oi hope, at least."

Taking a long sip from the shallow watering hole, Brine glanced back towards the dungeon once more before shuffling back into the hut. He couldn't do much if Team Reach didn't come back, so he figured he might as well work on other important matters while he had the free time. With a quick shake of his head, Cap'n Brine took a breath and began his memorized conversation once more.

"Ahoy, lassie, good tah see ya ba-"

A sudden pop and loud rush of wind sounded from outside, prompting a startled squawk from the captain. His face hot with embarrassment, he peeked out the window. In front of the notice, a visibly wounded but still standing Team Reach stood surrounded by unfamiliar Pokémon, their badges in hand. Brine narrowed his eyes, noting a Shroomish looking around bewildered, a Sandshrew jumping up and down gesturing excitedly at the badge in Rye's hand, and two larger Pokémon lying on the ground, only moving slightly on occasion.

"Huh. Well, the lads are breathin', at least," Brine said to himself, a small smile on his bill.

* * *

"How'd you do that? I want one!" Sandshrew piped as he jumped in place, waving his arms around wildly. I could have sworn I saw stars in his eyes as he kept his eyes locked on our team badges. Rye shifted in place, unsure of what to make of this.

"Uh, th-they were given to us by the Guild. Ms. May says badges that can teleport are rare, only Guilds who have good Psychic-types can make these kinds. W-we have an Alakazam in town," he tried to explain.

"Can he make us some?" Sandshrew asked.

"Sorry, but they're expensive," Rye said, tucking the badge into our bag. Tuning out Sandshrew's disappointed groaning, Shroomish laughed a bit to herself.

"Here we've been walking back to the entrance whenever we finish a mission... you Guildies have it so easy, I swear," she muttered.

As Rye rolled his eyes at this comment, a pained moan sounded from behind me as Vigoroth shifted in place, aggravating his broken legs.

"P-please..." he moaned, reaching out for us. As the others went about their post-dungeon routines, I took a long look at him and Poliwrath in their pitiful state. As I stared, a shudder ran through my spine as the image of the Xatu who had done the deed flashed through my mind. The ease and nonchalance with which he had broken the thieves' legs with just his mind was terrifying on its own, but something about the way he was staring at us with his cold, calculating eyes... urgh.

As I shook these thoughts off, a loud "oi, oi!" rang out from nearby. Our group looked up to find Cap'n Brine running over to us, wing flapping in greeting. Although Shroomish and Sandshrew were concerned over this, Rye and I still enthusiastically greeted the captain as he stopped to examine the outlaws behind us.

"Whew, ye really did a numbah on these lads! ...w-wot did ya do to their legs?" he asked worriedly. As Rye tried to explain, Brine stuck a wing in the air.

"Ah, ye can explain later, oi'll get 'em help from town. Surely they'll 'ave someone who can haul 'em over there, so just wait 'ere, will ya?" he said.

Before we could consent to this sudden proposition, Cap'n Brine had flown off. As he disappeared into the distance, Rye took my one good paw and led me towards the adventurers' stop.

"We've gotta get patched up before we go. I'm not sitting in his bill with open wounds..." Rye said.

* * *

Clutching my now tightly wrapped arm as we sat in Cap'n Brine's bill, I couldn't help but give an envious look out at Sandshrew and Shroomish. Brine had gotten a local Flygon to help us carry the rest of our party back to Bassa Village, and the outlaws were now tightly tied to the back of said Flygon, allowing Sandshrew and Shroomish to grasp on to the ropes. Sure, it looked uncomfortable, but surely it was better than Cap'n Brine's damp, warm throat.

We landed in front of Bassa Village's gate, where Officer Feraligatr stood waiting, an expectant smile on her maw.

_'Wow, we were really here just this morning?'_

As I stumbled out of Brine's bill, she walked up to us, quietly greeting our posse with a quick nod as she began looking over the outlaws on Flygon's back.

"Damn. Pelipper said their legs were fucked up, but wow," she said under her breath. Shaking her head, she gestured Flygon to follow her. As she turned her head to give us a wary look, she cleared her throat.

"You can hunker down in my house, I'll probably be at the station dealing with these two the whole night," she said before leading Flygon through the gate. She suddenly stopped as she did so, not moving for a second before looking back at us, her eyes noticeably softer.

"Uh... if any of you want to talk to me come morning, feel free to. I'm all ears," she said. With that, she disappeared into the small crowd of spectators with Flygon still carrying the crooks. As I watched, I heard a gasp as Rye fell onto the sand. I only then realized that he had been hiding in Brine's bill the whole time, only now choosing to come out.

"Uh, wh-what'd she say?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him as a confused Shroomish recounted Feraligatr's info to him. Giving out a breathless sigh, Rye quickly rushed over to Officer Feraligatr's nearby house. As he disappeared through the doorway, Shroomish cleared her throat behind me.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked. I huffed to myself as I shrugged.

_'Distortion if I know.'_

* * *

"Uh, w-we don't... uh, know how to make a fire..." Rye stammered, his face turning red as the sky out the window. Sitting around Officer Feraligatr's unlit fireplace, we looked away in shame as Shroomish gave us a small sigh.

"How would you try to start it?" she asked.

"Uh, like this," Rye replied, leaning forwards to rub two sticks together. Shroomish rolled her eyes.

"You Guildies, I swear... get one of those big pieces of wood from in there," she said.

"Wait, don't we have a firestarter in the Toolbox?" Sandshrew asked as we confusedly pulled a sizable log out.

"Yeah, but they clearly don't. Let me see your shell, Oshawott."

I reluctantly handed my scalchop over, prompting her to saw a small notch into the log with it. Once she had finished, Sandshrew immediately pushed her aside, sticking a stick into the notch and rubbing it. Ignoring Shroomish's dirty look, he blew some of the resulting ashes onto the straw underneath the wood. The small wisp of smoke the ashes created gave way to a little flame, which we stared blankly at as it slowly grew, illuminating Team Creosote's smug smiles.

"...oh," Rye said after a moment.

Avoiding the others' gazes as the fire grew, Rye and I pulled out what little food we had left in our bag and silently ate. Sandshrew quickly followed suit, sticking a ripe-looking berry onto his Iron Thorn, which he had apparently managed to bring out of the battle. Even though it was still caked with dried blood, he didn't hesitate to use it to roast his berry over the fire, much to Shroomish's disgust.

"Just... why?" she said between gags.

"What? You said it's protein!" Sandshrew replied.

"I didn't mean that seriously, you...!" Shroomish started before Sandshrew turned to us.

"Y'know, you two don't really talk much. What's up, guys?" he abruptly asked.

"Uh... shaagh." I tried to remind him, tapping my throat. Rye didn't have such a handicap, though, so he just gulped and shook his head. This only served to intrigue the little bugger more.

"Come on, you can't keep secrets around a fire! That's just common adventurer sense!" said bugger piped in a singsong voice.

"I... i-it's personal," Rye said quietly.

"Huh, do you know what it is, Blubby?" Sandshrew asked me. Growling slightly at the use of that name, I shook my head. Sandshrew hummed a bit to himself.

"You haven't even told your partner? Do you not trust him, Treecko?" he asked.

"W-what? Of course I do!" Rye responded.

"Really?"

"I-I'll tell him soon, alright?!"

Ignoring Rye's glare, Sandshrew sighed and stared into the fire, Shroomish watching him expectantly. After a minute, he looked back up, his face more serious than we had ever seen it.

"It's basic adventurer knowledge that trust in a team is everything, right? Saying you'll trust him later won't do anything, I don't think. I... uh, I think it's like a baby Pidove in a nest. Uh, the Pidove can look down from the nest and say 'I'll get out of here soon, I know it!', but it can't... uh, it can't do it just by telling itself that. No matter how much it dreams, it won't just have flight handed to it. It has to push itself, y'know? Jump out and give its wings a good flap..."

Sandshrew paused for a minute to gather his thoughts, oblivious to our stupefied looks and Shroomish's growing grin.

"Uh, everyone learns that at some point, I think. I guess I learned the hard way. Mommy and Daddy never agreed over who owned the burrow, but I never could ask someone for help, so... uh, y-yeah," he said.

He plopped back down onto the floor as Rye hung his head, his eyes trained on the fire. Shroomish gave us a manic smile.

"That's why I formed this team with him, Treecko. He's a pain to deal with, but once you get him talking seriously..." she mused. As Rye distantly nodded, Sandshrew giggled to himself, his serious demeanor melting away.

"Yeah, the first time I talked to her like that, she got so excited she launched spores everywhere, it was hilar-"

Shroomish's smile immediately morphed into a face of contorted panic as vines burst from the floor, stopping just short of Sandshrew's head.

"We promised not to talk about that, Mizu!" she half-screamed, her eyes wide. Sandshrew suddenly perked up as he looked over at us once more.

"Oh yeah, uh, Mizu's my name. Don't tell anyone, okay? Adventurer's honor?" he requested. Taken aback by this sudden trust from the now-named Mizu, I nodded. Shroomish's eye twitched as she glared at Mizu, who gave his own cheery look back. After a minute of this staring contest, Shroomish groaned.

"Ugh... mine's Lily, I guess. Might as well give us yours now, huh?" she said.

"Beck," I said, smiling slightly to myself for finally getting it out without trouble.

"Ooh, can you say our names? Here, here, Mee-zooo," Mizu enunciated. I raised my paws to try and talk my way out, though he persisted. Eventually, I hung my head.

"Sh-sheeits-hooo," I tried. The two gave me a brief horrified stare before Lily suddenly started laughing.

"Y-yeah, that sounds about right!", she said between chortles.

"Wh-wha?" I asked as Mizu slowly started as well.

_'Did I say something wrong? All I said was 'Mizu', right? I didn't... oh. Shit.'_

I began flapping my stubby arms around trying to apologize, though quickly found myself laughing along with the two. Allowing the day's horrors to melt away, I took to trying my damnedest to keep talking with them, even if my vocabulary only had, like, five words. It was a fun time, I'd say.

* * *

Rye swallowed the lump in his throat as Beck and the others laughed beside him. Despite the language barrier, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, a welcome change from what he had seen in the dungeon.

_'I want to join in, but... ugh, anything I'd say would ruin it...'_

He instead chose to stare into the roaring fire, watching small embers fly up through the ceiling into the night as he mulled over Mizu's spiel.

_'He had a point. Do I really trust Beck? Are we really friends or just... partners?'_

As Mizu and Lily kept telling Beck to spout out seemingly random words, Rye bit his lip and nodded slightly.

_'Sandshrew's right. No more 'laters.' I'll talk to Sinni; tomorrow for sure. Hopefully she'll know what to do.'_

Content with this idea, he sat back and watched as Beck exaggeratedly threw his paws up in defeat, apparently having been given too complicated a word to pronounce. Rye let himself smile a bit as he watched the others share another laugh. For once, he felt confidence blossom up as he decided on one thing.

_'Tomorrow's gonna be better.'_

* * *

Xatu wasn't having a particularly good day.

He had had to eat a mushy apple at breakfast, overheard at least eleven thoughts wishing for his untimely death, been reprimanded by another executive, and had been scratched up while breaking up a fight in the Dark-type quarters. He knew as well as any that servitude towards the Phoenix League required sacrifice, but this was getting ridiculous.

Especially considering the Arid Riverbed rendezvous.

Staring ahead unblinking as he paced the empty central hall, Xatu mulled over what he had seen during the encounter with the thieves.

_'Something was wrong there. I know it.'_

Surely it couldn't have been the underlings, Xatu had gazed into their psyches more times than he wished, and he knew for a fact that they couldn't surprise him if they tried. In that case...

_'It had to have been the adventurers. But how? They were but mere children...'_

Xatu clenched his left eye closed, watching intently as the scene psychically materialized in his mind's eye.

_'I do not understand. They were unremarkable at best...'_

He sighed to himself as he began to listen in on the thoughts he had picked up during their brief encounter.

_'Yes, yes, childish awe from the Sandshrew, wariness from the Shroomish, fear and uncertainty from the Treecko, and simple feral garbage from the Oshawott. Why, then, do I-"_

Xatu suddenly paused, his open eye widening ever so slightly as his crests rose.

_'The Oshawott. Its mind was that of a feral, but the way that it composed its thoughts... it must have been...'_

"Sir? Are you alright?" a voice called out. Xatu opened his eye and turned his head to find a Linoone eyeing him concernedly. He stared at the underling as he considered what to do next.

"...I must see the leader," he eventually said. The Linoone raised an eyebrow.

"Erm, leader's still out, sir," he said. Xatu quickly spun around, causing the Linoone to jump back.

"Then assemble the executives, this is no time to sit about!" he demanded, his wings extended forwards. The Linoone gulped hard and quickly nodded, shrinking back further as Xatu returned to his usual neutral demeanor.

"W-what do I tell them... uh, sir?" the Linoone stammered. Xatu allowed the faintest hint of a smile to grace his beak.

"We appear to have found our human."


	19. From Bassa With Love

I came to as a figure above me gave a hard nudge with its foot. Blinking gunk out of my eyes, I tried to roll over, only to mentally scream at myself as I rolled onto my cast arm. Clenching my teeth, I turned my head just enough to meet Officer Feraligatr's gaze as she flashed that crocodile smile at our group.

"They live! Get on up, it's already mid-morning," she said. Ignoring my pitiful cry, she watched as Rye clambered to his feet beside me. A muffled comment sounded out from behind me, which I correctly assumed was Mizu. Being a Sandshrew, he seemed to have rolled into a ball to sleep and, being the menace he was, was now apparently refusing to budge. Lily scowled at him.

"Mizu..." she started.

"Fvve mre mnnts..." Mizu replied defiantly, only tightening his curled-up position. As Lily groaned in frustration, Feraligatr squatted down to look the Sandshrew over.

"Allow me, Shroomish," she said, a small smirk on her maw.

While it was hard to see in the morning sun, I could make out her pointer claw beginning to glow dimly with Water-type energy. Feraligatr laid her paw to rest on Mizu, then began to rhythmically tap on his shell with her glowing claw. Mizu flinched with each tap, though to his credit, he kept it up for a good few minutes. However, once those few minutes had passed, Mizu let out a muffled cry as he uncurled to desperately swat Feraligatr away. As he whimpered and clutched his new sore spot, she stood to address us.

"Water torture, ladies and gentlemen. Anyhoo, your new best friends did nothing but give us a hard time the whole night, though we were able to find this on them. I assume it's what you came for," she said as she held up a small bag. "Says it belongs to a Ms. Nidoran from Impetus Town?"

Rye and I quickly raised our paws, so Feraligatr unceremoniously tossed the bag into my paws. As we looked it over, in awe that we had been through all this for this one little bag, she cleared her throat.

"So... let's address the Slaking in the room, alright? What happened to their legs? They said something about their boss, and I know for certain you couldn't have done that, so did you see what happened?" she asked. An awkward silence hung in the air as we all looked to each other expectantly. Eventually, Mizu, who had finally stopped whining over his welt, sniffled once more and started.

"Uh, I-I was in the middle of fighting that big guy off with Lily and Treecko when, uh, this Xatu showed up, and, uh, he started being really cool and made the big guys fly up in the air! And they were all like..." he said, swinging his arms around to mimic what he had seen before Lily calmed him with a nudge. "Uh, then he started talking about his weird secret club, said he was, like, their leader, then he... he, uh, used his mind to break the big guys' legs."

Feraligatr watched us, her lips pursed as Mizu finished his tale.

"Hrm... what was this... er, secret club called?" she asked.

"I think he called it the Fffeh... uh, Phoenix something," Mizu said. Feraligatr made a quiet noise of disgust as she looked down at the floor, shaking her head slightly.

"Phoenixes. Should have figured they'd pull this," she muttered. With that, she pulled a small sack from behind her sash and tossed it towards us, where it hit the floor with a dull clunk.

"Thanks for the information. I guess that's case closed, then. There's your reward, you all can take your time," she told us. As she walked out the door, Rye undid the twine around the sack's opening, spilling dozens of dull metal coins onto the floor. As we ogled at the Poké before us, Lily raised her foot to get our attention.

"Uh, Treecko, remember our deal?" she asked. Rye, not breaking his gaze towards the coins, blinked once and hung his head, letting out a despairing groan.

* * *

It was well around noon when our group gathered on the path out of Bassa Village to say our goodbyes. While Cap'n Brine was gorging himself to prepare for the long flight home, we and Feraligatr had decided to see Team Creosote off. Lily gazed out at the dunes ahead of her, her Toolbox slung over her back as Rye tried to reason with her.

"Uh, it's the middle of the day, and... you said you were from Cesaree City, right? It's forty miles to the coast, are you sure you don't want a lift? Heck, y-you could even come back with us to the Guild!" he said. Lily gave him a small smile in response.

"Thanks, but we got here just fine. The road back should be just as easy and boring. Besides, I'd still rather eat Muk than be bossed around by some crusty old Guildie. No offense," she said.

As I watched them talk, Mizu tapped me on the shoulder. While that was enough to startle me, I legitimately almost screamed once I saw him wielding his Iron Thorn, which was still covered in dried Poliwrath blood and berry juice. As I calmed myself down, he placed the disgusting weapon onto the sand in front of me.

"Here, have this to remember us by!" he piped. I stared down at the spike, then back up at Mizu. He wasn't actually parting with this thing, was he? As if reading my thoughts, the Sandshrew gave me a cheery smile.

"Go ahead and take it, I found a longer one in Ms. Feraligatr's trash!" he insisted, turning to show me said thorn tucked through the filthy bandanna around his neck.

_'I'd question how safe that is, but honestly, I stopped trying to rationalize this guy's mindset a good while back.'_

Trying to touch as little of the Iron Thorn as possible, I picked it off the ground as Mizu joined Lily in gazing at the desert ahead. Letting out one final sigh, Lily turned to us.

"Well, that's it, then. It's been nice meeting you, Beck and...?" she said, giving Rye a questioning look. Realizing he hadn't given his name last night, he coughed a bit.

"Oh, uh, Rye," he said. Shroomish flashed a quick smile.

"Well, it was nice meeting you two. Who knows, we might catch each other on the road at some point," she said. As we smiled and nodded, Mizu abruptly raised his paw up.

"Ooh-ooh, I know a song for this!" he piped before breaking into a childish tune, kicking in place for effect. "Day or night, rain or shine, when we meet again it'll be a sight _..._ "

As Mizu continued his off-key singing, Lily pushed him along, and with one final look back at us, continued into the desert ahead. Breaking from his one-hit wonder, Mizu gave us a final persistent wave.

"Tell the cool teams in your Guild I said hi, Blubby!" he yelled back as the two shrunk into the distance. I rolled my eyes at the name, though still waved the Creosotes off all the same. Though a little shit one of them might be, I could at least tolerate him. That had to account for something, right? As I turned to strap our bag closed, I felt Rye hurriedly pull me back.

"Wait, don't pack up. There's... uh, s-something I want to do first," he said. I gave him a perplexed look and reluctantly followed him back to the town gate, where Feraligatr was waiting for us, cocking her head as Rye approached her.

"Uh, M-Ms. Feraligatr? I... uh... c-can we... t-talk? Er, alone?" he asked, dread etched into his face. Feraligatr's gaze softened.

"Oh... uh, of course," she said as Rye gave me a quick sideways glance.

"C-could you please wait here?" he asked me.

"Er, yeh..." I said confusedly as Rye hurriedly followed Feraligatr back to her house, leaving me alone in the midday heat. After maybe ten minutes, I decided on walking out of town and looking up at the imposing gate. As I had seen before, the broken green sign proudly displayed the village's name in bold Unown script.

_'Basa Town? Well, Feraligatr did say it was something along those lines, I guess. It looks cut off at the beginning, I wonder what it-'_

_'...wait. I... I just read that.'_

I stared up at the sign, a wild smile growing on my face. I didn't know what my human self was like, but I don't think he would have been as excited as I was at that moment to just read something, even if it was apparently a dead language. Before long, I found myself trying to express this to Cap'n Brine, who had just returned from the cafe. A loose strand of fish meat dangling from his bill, he gave me an odd look as I waved him over and excitedly gestured to the town gate.

"Um... yeh, that most certainly is a soign," he confusedly said. I grimaced slightly as he hobbled away, stretching his wings and muttering inspirational jargon to himself. Growing restless from the excitement, I glanced up the road.

_'Surely they shouldn't be taking this long? Maybe I should check up on them...'_

Looking back to make sure Brine wasn't about to stop me, I started towards Officer Feraligatr's house. As I approached the house, Rye and Feraligatr suddenly walked out the door. I shrunk back as Feraligatr sent me a flat look, clearly catching on to what I was doing.

"...here, go ahead and crash in my place. Rye and I are gonna go on a little walk, have a little conversation. Y'know, self-worth, survivors guilt, yadda yadda," she said, her voice hoarse.

"Sinni, p-please don't... not in front of Beck," Rye said. Feraligatr hung her head and sighed.

"Sorry, sorry. I get like that when I'm all upset. Feel free to hit me across the maw if I start on that again, yeah?"

Rye snorted as the two headed into town, leaving me to stare after them, at a bit of a loss of what to think.

_'They really do know each other... huh. I'll give them a while.'_

With that decided, I hobbled into Feraligatr's... er, Sinni's house and resigned myself to examining Mizu's horrid Iron Thorn.

* * *

Maybe an hour passed before Rye and Sinni walked in on me sprawled on the floor clutching my broken arm in pain, having failed to tighten the cast around it. As I embarrassedly followed them out, I noticed just how much in good spirits the two were. The depressive, uncertain feelings I had subconsciously come to associate with Rye were absent at the moment, some degree of hope replacing them in the Treecko's yellow eyes. As the three of us passed under the gate, a flap of wings from Sinni's roof signified Cap'n Brine's arrival.

"Oi'm not gon ask," he said offhandedly as he opened up his bill, allowing me to slip our bag inside before turning to Sinni.

"Eh... sha, shehh. Shaa," I tried to thank her. Despite the poor attempt, she seemed to get the message and gave me a signature crocodile smile, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Stay safe out there, kid. If anyone gives you shit, just fly back and tell me, yeah?" she asked. I nodded, prompting her to turn to Rye.

"Th-thank you for the talk, Sinni. It really helped, I think," he simply said.

"Anytime. Just keep what I said in mind, and try not to lose Beck again," Sinni replied.

"Sh-sha?" I asked in response.

_'Didn't Mizu say Pokémon only shared their names with others they trusted?'_

Rye quickly caught on to my worries and raised his hands.

"Hey, don't worry, Beck. Sinni and I knew each other way back when, she's fine," he assured me before giving a small cough. "Er, that's Ms. Feraligatr's name."

"Swha?" I inquired while gesturing back and forth between the two. Rye bit his lip and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could say anything, however, a Herdier bolted into the scene, startling us all as it panted, its face contorted with panic.

"Nick? What are you..." Sinni started.

"It's the outlaws, ma'am! I was interrogating them, they were giving me shit, and I stepped out for some water. W-when I came back in, they were on the floor screamin' with a Xatu over them. He must have teleported in or-" the Herdier explained. Sinni's eyes widened.

"Slow down, Nick. Are the bodies still there?" she asked.

"Bodies? Oh, uh, they're still alive, ma'am. Just... messed up. Like, can't even speak messed up," the Herdier replied. Sinni clenched her fists.

"Son of a Weezing!" she roared before storming away from us, the Herdier tailing her. We quickly made to follow after her, but she just looked back.

"Y-you go, this isn't a job for explorers!" she yelled. As she and Nick the Herdier disappeared into the town, Rye and I exchanged worried glances as Cap'n Brine looked at us curiously.

"Well, ye heard the lass. Come 'long, oi don wonna get too caught up here," he eventually said.

"B-but..." Rye started.

"She knows wot she's doin," Brine reassured us before opening his bill. With not much choice in the matter, Rye and I reluctantly climbed inside. Holding our bag tight, we held on as the Pelipper took off, sending dry wind into our faces. Once it died down, I leaned out ever so slightly to manage a final look out towards the shrinking Bassa Village. As I lost sight of the little village, I sat back down in Brine's moist bill, glancing towards Rye. The heat of the moment finally wearing off, I found myself grinning at him.

"Rye, shee eeh...?" I asked, narrowing an eye as I exaggeratedly gestured to Rye. He looked to me confusedly before recoiling in shock.

"Wait, i-it's not like that, Beck! We were just friends back then!" he hissed, his face red as I chuckled.

"Shaah," I said in a singsongy voice, waggling a paw at him. Rye huffed.

"A-alright, say what you want," he said before looking up at me, his own grin growing on his face. "D-doesn't really change anything, now does it, Blubby?"

My mocking smile immediately fell off my face. It was his turn to laugh at me as I stared at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that. Forgive me, o heir to the great house of Blubbington!" he chimed.

_'Oh, you want to play this game, do you? Well... actually, I can't really say anything back, can I? You win this round...'_

As I raised my paws up in defeat, I slunk back as Rye gave a victorious whoop.

_'This is gonna be a long one, isn't it?'_

* * *

"Xatu, we need to talk."

"Is there a problem, Executive?"

"A problem? Oh, not at all, you just went and lobotomized our guys in Bassa Village!"

"Why, of course they couldn't handle it. They were weaker than I assumed, most should have been able to make it through such a memory wipe."

"Memory... why?! What possible excuse do you have this time?!"

"Vigoroth and Poliwrath... they talk too much. In times like these, we cannot afford even the slightest margin of error."

"Error?! The fuck do you mean 'error?!'"

"It concerns our human. Should the secret escape, our ambitions, nay, our entire League runs risk of falling."

"...'human?!' What are you talking about?!"

"I have already briefed the other executives on this, now-"

"I-I don't give a damn, you melted our mons' minds without our knowledge! The boss oughta throw you out of the League for this!"

"Hmph. This conversation holds no further purpose. Farewell."

"What? Oh, nonono, don't you teleport away on me, you... agh! How does the boss even put up with you..."


	20. The Joys of Flight

"Hm... I spy something... uh, green," Rye said, leaning out of Cap'n Brine's bill and gazing down at the vast forest below.

"Shaghh..." I groaned, dragging my paws down my face. We had been playing this same game for maybe half an hour by this point, and I could tell we were both bored of it. It was mildly entertaining the first ten times, not so much the next twenty. As if to prove my thoughts, Rye quickly gave up on trying to continue and shifted in his tight spot. Surely there was something else to do other than this?

_'Really, why is I Spy the go-to game in the field? Couldn't we just as easily play fire-water-grass?'_

I was about to try and inform Rye of this groundbreaking idea when I stopped myself and took notice of my paw, particularly its lack of any fingers to play such a game.

_'Again, curse you, stubby paws.'_

Without anything else to do, I made sure Cap'n Brine wasn't hitting any turbulence and opened our bag.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Rye asked, giving me a dubious look. I shrugged as I started to dig through the seeds and berries, idly looking for anything to do. As I dug deeper, I felt a flat shape brush against my paw. Pulling it out, I was met with our notebook, stained but still in one piece.

"Oh, wow, I forgot about that thing." Rye said, leaning over to see as I cracked it open, finding my crude stick-figure drawing of a human staring back at us.

"Huh. We never did use it after that, did we? Could have helped a lot, I could have started teaching you to write..."

My ears perked up as Rye said this, my revelation back in Bassa Village coming to mind.

"Ah, Rye! Sheah?" I asked, miming out the act of writing and gesturing to the bag. Surely being able to read Unown script meant I could write in it, too?

"Oh, uh, you want a pen? Um... okay, then," Rye said, handing me a piece of charcoal from the bag's side pocket. Squinting in concentration, I turned to a blank page and started trying to write. Drawing random lines and squiggles, I tried to remember how exactly to put them together into letters, then those letters into words. My inner monologue wasn't much help in writing, seeing as it was mostly just noise and images that didn't translate into words easily, and my primary arm being broken left the characters looking sloppy at best, though with enough effort, I managed to squeeze out a recognizable word among the page full of failures.

_'The. Just... the. That's all I could get out? Well, at least I know I can write something, I guess...'_

Despite my disappointment in my limitations, Rye didn't seem to care about how little I could do, moreso that I could.

"Wait, are... a-are those Unown runes?" he asked, eyes wide. "Wow, th-this is... this could be great for us! There aren't many Pokémon out there that can understand those; around here, only Guildmaster Arcanine can for sure! You... uh, you can read those, right?"

I nodded, earning an excited grin from Rye as he looked over my shoddy writing. As he did, however, his smile faded, replaced with that familiar troubled look on his face.

"Dill and I would always try to read Unown script like it was Gray-tongue... y'know, s-see the weird things it would say..." he said, looking away from the book. He stared off for a minute before sighing.

"I... you've figured my story of what happened with him is a load of crap, right?" he asked. I shamefully nodded, causing Rye to avert his gaze from mine.

"Uh... I-I wasn't able to get it off my mind after what happened with the Krokorok, so Sinni and I were talking about it back in Bassa Village. Uh, it was just... really nice to actually talk with someone about it, you know? She also told me that... that..."

His tail twitched as he stared off.

"C-can you do me a favor, Beck? Please don't tell anyone about this..." he asked of me. I gave a slow nod, prompting Rye to hang his head.

"It was maybe three years back, and we lived in a little town at the foot of Mount Twist. I-it's true that Dill died when he went into Mount Twist, but... I... I was the one who made him go in there. We heard about treasure in the cave outside our town, and we thought we could get it first if we went in and got an idea of what was in there. B-but while Dill was in there..."

Rye shifted uncomfortably.

"Th-the mystery dungeon in Mount Twist expanded into the cave, and Mount Twist erupted. I tried to go back for him, but I couldn't make it. I ended up under a tree, and I would have died if Mr. Arden and the others weren't there to chart out the caves in the area. Th-they went in to go get Dill, and... h-he..."

He sniffled as I listened intently.

"H-he was still alive when they pulled him out... he was burned and cut all over, his bones were broken, and he could barely even speak... h-he was going through all that pain because... because of me! H-he was staring right at me when he died... I just held him there. I could have gotten help, but I just... stood there..."

Rye finished as he clenched his eyes closed, tears beginning to fall down his face. Unsure of what else to do, I put a paw on his shoulder.

"Rye, shaah. Sha," I tried to comfort him. Rye didn't look back to me.

"S-Sinni said I'm not a murderer like she said back then, that I shouldn't focus on the past, that it wasn't my fault... but a-am I really a good Pokémon, Beck?" he asked. My eyes widened.

"Y-yeh!" I said.

"H-how do you know, Beck? How do we know that... I won't leave you to die to save my own tail?" Rye asked tearfully. Looking around frantically, I eventually gestured down at the forest below and the wide, winding Serperior River snaking through it, then back towards myself. Rye stared down at the ground below before finally meeting my gaze with bloodshot eyes.

"...y-you mean when I pulled you out of the river back in Quinite Woods?" he croaked. I nodded, finally getting a small nod from the Treecko.

"I... I guess..." he said simply, cracking a smile. "Heh, I guess you'd have ditched me already if I were still that bad?"

"Ha, shyah," I said. Rye sat up and looked out towards the horizon, his prior gloom less intense. After a minute, he looked towards me, a small smirk on his face.

"I spy something green," he said. Grinning, I rolled my eyes and went along with the game.

* * *

We finally stumbled out of Cap'n Brine's bill gasping for fresh air as the sun hung low over Brine's harbor. Our arrival was met with enthusiasm from the Wingull we had seen before we had left as Brine sat down.

"Good ta see ye kept me port in one piece, Piku. Oi'm gonna go an' have me a nap, lemme know if the lass an' her crew shows up, ye?" Brine asked. The Wingull cleared her throat.

"Can't, sir, Team Apex arrived earlier yesterday. Not sure if ye can have that nap, we need all wings on deck, we had a guy quit and go with 'em," she said. Brine blinked hard as he took in this information.

"...well, shite," he muttered before turning to us.

"Er, looks loike we're gon be a bit busy 'ere. It's been a pleasure servin' you lads," he said earnestly.

"Thank you, Cap'n. I-if you want us to repay you, we still have Poké..." Rye began. Brine waved a wing dismissively.

"Ah, don worry 'bout it, consider it repayment for wot 'appened a week back, eh? Go on back to ya Guild, and say hello to Leafeon fah me!" he said before taking off. The two of us waved him off until he disappeared into a building in the center of the port. Once he did so, we started on the long walk back to Impetus Town, our spirits high. We had survived the mission, successfully apprehended criminals, learned a good bit, and we had a disgusting trophy to show for it. As we finally approached the Guild's gate, we held our heads up high, confident in what was to come next...

...and then we noticed Cinccino sitting in her kiosk, sending us a glare that could pierce an Aggron's armor.

"Team Reach. Here. Now," she demanded.

_'...oh.'_

Our prior enthusiasm crumbled away as we stood before her office, trying not to look her in her eyes.

"You're lucky I like you two, because... ugh. Abandoning your posts, taking a request not approved by the Guild, going off on an outlaw mission without prior approval, and not even consulting us when you went off, just to name a few of what you pulled when you went off. What were you thinking?" Cinccino snapped. I swallowed hard, raising a trembling paw up as Rye let out a weak noise, looking ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

"Sh-sha..." I tried. Cinccino's eye twitched before she hung her head and sighed.

"Agh. I'll let you two off since you're just rookies, I suppose. The Guildmaster won't be very happy about this, but live and let live. Carry on," she muttered, turning back to a confused Pokémon at the front of the line.

Swallowing nervously, I followed a still-shaking Rye into the Guild's grounds. Ignoring several glances from the Pokémon passing us, we dragged ourselves to our base. As we walked in, a small table in front of a window caught my eye. Struck with a small bout of inspiration, I pulled Mizu's Iron Thorn out of our bag and set it down on it. Rye admired the horrid thing as the dying sunlight lit it up.

"The first piece of our collection... here's hoping we'll find more than just this, huh?" he joked. We shared a chuckle before a low gurgle sounded. Rye clutched his belly in response.

"Er, how's dinner sound?" he asked. Putting a paw to my own stomach, I nodded in agreement, so we tossed our bag aside and left the Iron Thorn to proudly confuse anyone who happened to walk by.

* * *

"We-ell, look who it is! Good to see you're alive! Where you two been?" Raticate beamed as we stood in front of his window.

"We were, uh, chasing outlaws in Bassa Village, sir," Rye said.

"Bassa? Good distance away, not too shabby for rookies like you! No offense," Raticate piped as he took notice of my cast. "I suppose those outlaws gave you that?" he asked. As I nodded, he sniffled to himself.

"You gotta be careful, those assholes don't play fair. Guess you already went and figured that out for yourselves, huh?" he said as he went to fill our trays. As we watched him start to pile food up, I looked up with a start.

"Sha!" I yelled after the cook. He glanced back at me confusedly as Rye blinked in understanding.

"H-he doesn't want extra food, sir. Same amount as me, please," he explained. Raticate watched us for a bit before giving a yellow-toothed grin.

"Sure thing, kid," he said. With that, he handed us our trays and we filed into the loud crowd of Pokémon. Shuddering as a nearby team of Ghost-types gave a long, eerie laugh, we dug in. As I chewed on a fruit with a name I couldn't quite put my paw on, I overheard a voice talking beside me.

"...yeah, the Guildmaster found a new Water trainer, apparently. 'Bout damn time, I'm tired of just divin' into the river and whaling on the Basculin!"

I cocked my head at this comment. A new Water-type trainer?

_'Honestly, I'm not expecting much from that after the last time we tried at training.'_

I pushed the unpleasant memory out of my head as I turned to face Rye. As he leaned back to converse with someone behind him, I couldn't help but feel happy for him. Sure, he was still the anxious Treecko I had grown to know, but he was starting to get better, at least.

_'It may have been rocky, and it honestly could have happened without too much changing, but I think that mission was worth it in the end.'_

With that in mind, I lost myself in the joyous atmosphere of the mess hall, allowing myself a nice moment of reprieve from all that was happening. Though I knew it wouldn't last past tonight, I savored it all the same.


	21. Familiar Faces

"Hey, Beck? W-why do I feel like we forgot something?" Rye asked as he stuffed our bag away, ready to tucker in for the night. As with the rest of the Guild, we had hurried back to our base as the moon started to climb into the sky. Apparently the Guild had a curfew in place, and while I wasn't sure why exactly, I wasn't about to try and challenge it.

"Sh... ergh..." I groaned in response to Rye's pondering, momentarily forgetting I couldn't say I didn't know. As I shook my head, Rye shrugged his unsure feelings off, lodging the bag under the table. He gave a quick gesture, signaling me to fire a Water Gun off at the torch lighting our base. Our small base was plunged into darkness just moments before the toll of a bell rang through the air. Rye sighed in relief.

"Whew, that was close. They don't like when rookies stay up after lights-out." he said, curling up in his bed. "Hey, what do you say we go to Cinccino tomorrow and... uh..."

Rye paused.

"...w-we forgot to give Nidoran her bag."

I heard him hit his head against the floor as he let out a groan.

"Well, I'm an idiot," he huffed.

"Shaagh," I added, gesturing to myself. Surely if he was an idiot for this, then two's a party, right?

"W-we'll get it back to her early tomorrow. Here's hoping she won't be too mad at us," Rye decided as he rested his head. "Night, Beck."

As Rye started to snore beside me, I found myself staring at the backs of my eyelids, finally afford some time to think without attracting too many odd looks.

_'When I got poisoned yesterday, I had that flashback... what did it mean? Maybe that voice knows something about it? Come to think of it, where'd the voice go? Why won't it just tell me why I'm here? Will I ever hear from it again, or...? Ugh, my head hurts, moving on. ...uh, Rye. What he told me... just... what do I even say to that? I haven't lost anyone like that, have I? He clearly trusts me a good bit if he's going to tell me all that, so what comes next?'_

Such questions frantically swam through my head, keeping me awake for a while before sleep finally claimed me.

* * *

"Nidoran? Yeah, I think I saw her heading down to town square just a bit ago."

As Rye thanked the Silgoon pointing us up the street, we started up the rocky path into the town. The morning atmosphere of Impetus Town bubbled pleasantly around us as we walked along looking around for Nidoran. A pair of laughing young Pokémon chased each other around us as a small street band played a lively tune on strings, providing ample noise over the dozens of pleasant indistinct conversations around us.

As we passed Officer Magnezone giving us a nod of greeting as he floated by, we caught sight of Nidoran intently watching something in the square with a Seedot standing close by, the Pecha scarf we had retrieved not so long ago wrapped around it.

"H-hey, Nidoran! We-" Rye began.

"Shh. We're listening," Nidoran whispered, not breaking her focus. Shuffling past her, we peered into the square to see what she was looking at. A small group of kids, mostly Fire-types, I noticed, was gathered in the center of the square watching a familiar Quilava talk over them, his teammates behind him.

"Alright, keep those deep breaths coming. In, out. In, out. Now... yes, you in the back?" Arden said, pointing to a Magby raising its paw.

"What does this have to do with fighting? We wanted to learn how to be stronger, this is just what my mom would tell me!" the Magby said. A small murmur rose among the group, the nearby May and Pike smirking knowingly as Arden got over the initial shock of the comment.

"Well, kid, uh, your ember's like an actual fire. It grows and shrinks depending on how much fuel it has. Taking in oxygen helps to feed it," he explained.

"But that takes forever!" the troublesome Magby groaned. Arden cocked an eyebrow, then took several long, deep breaths as May stepped back. After a minute of this, he stopped, then blew a massive plume of fire twenty feet into the air. Even from our position, the heat brushed against us, making Rye jump back. Arden gave a smug look to the group as he closed his mouth and let the fire curl away.

"Any more comments?" he asked. The Magby disgruntedly shrunk back, prompting a loud clap from Arden.

"Alright, that's my advice for you. Keep at it and one day, you'll be crawling dungeons like us! Now go out there and fuu... er, f-fudge... fuss? Yeah, uh, f-fuss 'em up!" he piped. He turned away as the excited group of young Fire-types applauded and started trying to produce their own giant fireballs, much to the displeasure of the adults in the area. Nidoran sighed contently beside us.

"One day, you know? One day Seedot and I will be able to hold our own like them, and we can finally quit bugging the Guild to help us. That'll be the day..." she said. She continued to stare ahead for a minute before snapping out of her trance and quickly turning around to meet our looks.

"Oh, it's you! Seedot, look, it's the team I told you about!" she said. "Uh, d-did you get our stuff back?"

"Oh, yeah, w-we were just coming to get it to you. Here," Rye said, placing Nidoran's little bag in front of the pair. The two quickly tore it open and began digging through it, presumably to make sure everything was in order. Eventually, Nidoran fished out several coins and rested them at our feet.

"I... I don't know how we can thank you enough, honestly. I feel like the Poké is enough..." she said.

"Sha, shaah!" I reassured her. Nidoran's Seedot friend looked at me oddly.

"Huh, thought you were exaggerating when you said he couldn't talk," he said. Ignoring this, Nidoran turned to leave, Seedot following close behind. As they walked down the street, she stopped to look back at us one last time.

"Uh, th-thanks again!" she stammered before the two continued I watched them disappear into the thin crowd as Rye knelt down to pick up the Poké still at our feet.

"I wouldn't do that just yet, kid," a voice said from behind us. We jumped back in shock, spinning around to find May looking at us concernedly, Arden and Pike flanking her.

"Oh, Ms. May! Uh... wh-what's wrong with them?" Rye said.

"Chances are they've got poison all over them. I mean, that was a Nidoran paying you, right? I'd wash them off first," May replied, looking to me expectantly. I sighed and began soaking the pile of coins with a Water Gun as Rye looked back up to Team Apex.

"S-so how was Bewilder Forest?" he asked, to which Arden grinned widely.

"Well, we helped out a little town or two, had to save Pike from a herd of Emolga, beat the shit out of the resident Zoroark, had a nice lunch with her after the fact, and ended up hunched over digging through rubble for a crusty safe," he explained. I finished hosing the Poké off as Rye cocked his head.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

"I mean, we did end up digging up the thing. I'd say it was worth the trouble; had a few decently preserved books, some kind of old weapon, and... get this, a fucking TM! Not like the kind you buy from Kecleon or Alakazam, I mean a human TM! Western model, too; the type that wasn't designed to break after one use! Ohh-hoho, just wait till they figure out how to get it working again!" Arden chimed, rubbing his paws together excitedly. Rye and I stared at the ecstatic Quilava, unsure of half of what he had just said.

"Um... th-that's cool," Rye soon said, picking our reward money off the ground. As he did this, Pike cleared his throat behind us.

"Need I remind ya of the time?" he asked, pointing a wing at the sun. Arden snapped out of his spell and clenched his teeth together.

"Shit. ...er, come on, we'll take you two to the amphitheater, it's rude not to show up for weekly assembly. You're gonna like what they say, I'll say that," he quickly said before dropping onto all fours and dashing off. Rolling her eyes, May quickly followed as Pike stopped to give me a wary glance before flying off after them. With Rye haphazardly clutching our coins, we started weaving through the lively morning crowd to hurry after the team. As we managed to catch up with them, May looked over her shoulder at us.

"So what've you two been up to?" she asked.

"Uh, m-mission to Amber Meadow, went to Bassa Village to catch some outlaws, met an old friend. That's... ugh, that's basically it," Rye managed, struggling to keep up with the far more fit Leafeon.

"Ah, yeah, the guys with the screwed-up legs, right?" she asked.

"Wh-what?" Rye said, looking up confusedly.

"Gossip travels fast, kid. You can tell us about it later, I guess," May replied. With nothing else to say, we kept up our pursuit, leaving me to wonder just what this assembly was about.

* * *

Even with my memory loss, I could well understand the pain of mass social gatherings, especially ones where you're sitting next to a complete stranger. At the present moment, I began to wonder how much I had taken that for granted when I could at least talk, wasn't a foot and a half tall, and wasn't sitting next to a hulking seven-foot Pangoro who kept giving me the stink-eye.

_'Perks of being a Pokémon, I guess.'_

As I sulked at the thought of all the idle finger-twiddling I and my little paws were missing out on, a sudden cheer rang from the other explorers sitting around the amphitheater. My ears ringing from the Pangoro's roar, I looked up to find Guildmaster Arcanine entering the ring with Cinccino and several others following. With a small nod to his two-hundred-odd apprentices, he took a seat just in front of his statue, the sunlight gleaming off his golden hide. With a steely look from the Guildmaster, the crowd fell silent, allowing him to speak.

"I thank you all for attending, even though there is not much to say," he said, his baritone voice echoing along the amphitheater's cone-shaped structure. "Firstly, I would like to commend Teams Minutemon, Opportunity, Apex, and Stonewall for their continued vigilance and discoveries in the field."

Light applause sounded as Arden nodded and stuck a paw up a couple of rows below me. I failed to hide my scowl as I glanced at Rye, who looked equally disappointed. All that and we weren't going to be mentioned for it? Boy, that was encouraging.

"Now then, I'd like to make an announcement," Arcanine stated, prompting me to redirect my less-than pleasant face towards him. "As you are all likely aware, Greninja, our Water-type master of twenty-seven years, has recently retired, leaving our Guild in dire need of a new trainer. Thankfully, we have managed to find a promising candidate for such a role."

Arcanine paused for effect as I gave a loud sigh, earning another look from the Pangoro beside me.

_'Oh, boy, who's gonna pull the feral card on me this time?'_

Looking over the dozens of Pokémon murmuring to each other, Arcanine continued.

"It is with great pleasure that I introduce our new Water-type trainer, Master Wartortle."

_'Wait, Wartortle?'_

As the Guildmaster's words sunk in, I watched as the aforementioned Wartortle walked into the amphitheater, sheepishly waving to the crowd.

"Ah, come on, now, I'm no master, I'm just a sailor who happened to have experience. Just call me Wartortle, yeah?" he requested. I shrunk back, dumbfounded. That voice...

_'...Bert?'_

"Beck, th-that's..." Rye began. Arcanine quickly cut him off as he continued his announcement, most of which was lost on me as I gaped at Bert.

_'This... this is just... wow.'_

"...and the annual gathering for the Guild's group painting will be held at next week's end. That is all I wish to announce. May fortune be on your side. Forever forward!" Arcanine declared.

"Forever forward!" the congregation of Pokémon roared. As Arcanine and his assistants filed out, the crowd dispersed, either leaving to go about their day or gathering around Bert to welcome him to the Guild. In Rye and I's case, we sat there and watched as he Wurmpled his way out of the small crowd, dusting himself off as he looked around at the now mostly-empty seats. It didn't take long for him to notice the two of us, recognition and a big grin flashing across his face as he quickly walked up to us.

"Well, I'll be damned! How've you two been?" he asked.

"H-how did you...?" Rye asked, still in mild shock. Bert chuckled.

"I told you, kid, it's a small world. Your friends over there said there was an opening here at your Guild, and we figured I'd be decent enough at the job here, what with what happened on the river. I tried to tell them off, but five hours on the river with them saying otherwise really convinces you otherwise, you know?" he said. At that moment, he took notice of my wrapped-up arm, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, then, what were you doing while I wasn't watching? I don't think I can quite help you out with your arm like that," he said.

"Sha!" I protested, grabbing my scalchop to show I could still try. I proved myself wrong within two swings once I doubled over in pain, clenching my teeth as Bert watched on, unimpressed. After a moment of consideration, he knelt down to meet my gaze.

"You know what? I'm moving in tomorrow, so how about you head on over to the Water-type grounds once I set up shop?" he requested. Still clutching my pain-wracked arm, I nodded, prompting Bert to stand.

"Alright, then. See you then, kid," he nodded before walking away, quickly being swarmed by the explorers still there. Rye and I quickly made to leave the amphitheater, vaguely aware of the suspicious glances and whispers we were getting from several Pokémon idling about. As we headed down the path to our quarters, Rye suddenly perked up.

"Oh, hey, Beck! You know how you can read Unown-script? Maybe we could ask Mr. Arden for help, maybe he can help you figure them out better! Uh, what do you think?" he said.

"Huh... yeh, shaah!" I said, nodding in agreement.

"Alright! Let's just... uh, what do we do until then?" Rye wondered.

_'...good question. Maybe Ms. Audino can fix up my arm?'_

I gestured to my cast and pointed up the path.

"What? ...oh, uh, I don't think Ms. Audino can help much with that. I mean, w-we already set it, so there isn't much she can really do besides Heal Pulses, and those take a lot of energy," Rye said. I sighed, choosing to simply follow Rye to our base.

_'Ugh. Broken arms suck.'_

* * *

As Beck and Rye turned the corner, Arden took a glance back to watch them go. Judging by the smirk he had seen on Bert's face, he could assume their discussion had gone well. Grinning to himself proudly, Arden followed May and Pike as they headed to the boards. As they began to check over their bag, Arcanine's voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Team Apex? A moment, please." Paling, Arden turned to find the Guildmaster at the head of the road, watching the team as they froze in place. The three quickly saluted as he approached them.

"I'd like to speak with Arden alone, please," he requested.

"Wait, what? Sir, if this is about the team, we-" Pike began.

"No, no, it's okay, I'll, uh, meet you guys at the boards," Arden reassured them. May and Pike watched the Quilava before nodding and turning to continue without him.

"Come along," Arcanine commanded, walking back towards the now mostly empty amphitheater. Still quivering, Arden obediently went after him, soon sitting down next to him. The remaining Pokémon at the amphitheater gawked at the sight, though quickly shrunk back as Arcanine dismissed them with a wave of his paw. As they scampered away, Arden finally found the nerve to speak up.

"S-so... you wanted me, sir?" he asked in a hushed tone. Arcanine nodded.

"I trust that you have not forgotten of what I asked?" he questioned. Arden gave him a confused look.

"Sorry, what?" he asked.

"About my suspicions of Beck? The Oshawott?"

Arden quietly and rather colorfully insulted himself as the memory came rushing back.

"Oh, um, y-yes sir. From what I can tell, there's nothing special about the kid. I mean, not in the way you're asking. Aside from what you picked up off the bat, he's just your typical impressed feral," he explained. Arcanine gave a light hum as he nodded again.

"Continue to watch him, I still have my suspicions. Come to me immediately should anything reveal itself, and continue to not tell anyone. Yes?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Arden affirmed. Arcanine stood up, shaking dust out of his golden fur.

"Thank you again, you may go. I will be in my quarters researching the recent findings should you need me. Forever forward," he said. Arden stood and repeated the motto before bounding off to catch up with his friends. As he ran, he began to ponder Arcanine's words.

_'Surely the old dog's got a point. I mean, what if the kid really is...?_

_No, no, you're just being paranoid, Arden. The world doesn't look to be in any danger, right? It would have just called us in that case, heh._

_...but really, what if? ...ugh, oy vey. I've said it once, I'll say it again, just... the irony! Humanity fucks the world over, now they're the ones stopping the world from fucking itself over. At least, I hope...'_

"Yeah, I hope..." Arden mumbled to himself as he reached the square, absentmindedly waving to his teammates as they stood by the mission board, a handful of requests in Pike's beak.

_'Ugh, enough about Arcanine's weird fantasies. More on taking this Sentret to meet this Nickit, I guess._

_...the fuck's a Nickit doing down in Basculin Strait, anyways?'_


	22. Falling into Place

You'd think that being a Pokémon for over two weeks now would have someone try to use that to answer the great mysteries of the universe. You know, where do Pokémon come from, how exactly do they work, are humans just another species of Pokémon, was it Pokémon or an omnipotent human-biased God that created the universe, those sorts of questions. I'm sure anyone in my position would jump at the chance to figure those out for themselves from this new perspective, especially when presented the days of thinking a broken bone provided.

Except me, apparently.

_'How would Digletts exercise? Like, they don't have arms, do they? Hm, maybe they have legs and we just can't see them. In that case, do they have leg days and leg days only? Would they just dig tunnels to beef up?_

_Yeah, let's add this to my ever-growing list of what-the-fuck mysteries.'_

As I sat alone in our quarters idly scribbling in our notebook, such enlightened contemplations kept springing up, pushing my concentration away whenever I tried to scrawl something tangible onto the parchment.

_'Wait, isn't parchment made out of Pokémon skin? Ugh, here we go with this whole moral dilemma again...'_

I shuddered and pushed the notebook away to maybe use another time. With nothing more to do, I tested my broken arm. While it still screamed at me with each bend of my elbow, I found it wasn't quite as intense as it had been yesterday. In fact, I found myself able to actually push myself off the floor somewhat (though I decided not to test that much for obvious reasons) even though the arm was supposed to be freshly broken. Maybe Pokémon have quicker healing rates than humans? Who knows.

As I thought this over, Rye walked through the door, a small sack in his hand.

"Hey, uh, got supplies from Mr. Kecleon. Here, eat this, i-it won't fix your arm, but it'll help a bit," he said, offering an Oran which I gladly accepted. Rye took a seat on the straw bed next to me as I started messily eating the berry, relishing in the pain-dulling properties of the fruit. As we went about our business, a sudden rapping rang out from behind. Rye and I quickly turned around to find a Noctowl and a Pawniard standing just outside the door. We watched each other for a bit before the Noctowl hopped forward, clearing its throat.

"Afternoon. You're Team Reach, I presume? We're Noctowl and Pawniard with Team Dawncrack," he said. Rye grimaced slightly.

"Dawncrack? Uh, I-I get it, but... er..." he said. The Noctowl sighed.

"We work with what we have," he said dismissively. Rye pursed his lips and nodded, swallowing as he continued.

"D-do you want something?" he asked worriedly.

"You could say that. We're one of the teams the Guildmaster's entrusted to help keep the news board up to date, and we have a couple questions for you and your... er, teammate," Noctowl said, casting a quick nervous glance towards me.

We reluctantly nodded, so Pawniard stepped up with its arm wrapped around a notebook and a crude inkwell. Noctowl waited as it sat down and dipped one of its blade-hands into the well. With a nod of affirmation, he turned back to us.

"Sources returning from the southern Imperium Desert say you were involved in an outlaw incident in and around Bassa Village. We're told the chase ended with the recovery of the desired goods, but also that the criminals ended up with shattered legs and were wiped of their motor skills around the time you apparently confronted them," he said. "Were you responsible for their current condition? If not, who was? Is the sheriff in Bassa Village correct in saying an emergency might be in the making?"

Rye took a minute to think as the two waited.

"I... I think it's best if I tell the whole story," he eventually said before pausing, his tail tensing as he tried to work up the nerve to follow through. Soon enough, he began recounting the journey from our return from Amber Meadow onward, leaving out details where necessary while the Pawniard to the side wrote down his words furiously. As he recalled my willingness to draw Vigoroth away during the fight with the outlaws, Noctowl sent me another look, though unlike per usual, I noticed that it wasn't tinted with fear or suspicion. Rather, I thought I saw some respect in that gaze, brief though it may have been. As Rye finished describing our encounter with Xatu, Noctowl raised a wing to stop us.

"I assume this Xatu character was the one who fried the outlaws," he said. "Why'd he come back to do that, though?"

"Don't know," Rye replied. Disappointment clear on his face, Noctowl clicked his beak, getting Pawniard to his feet.

"Thank you for your time. We'll post the gist of this interview on the news board tomorrow morning. We hope to see you again soon," he said. With that, the two left our base, leaving us alone again. Rye gave a relieved sigh, looking glad it was finally over, though looked up at me confusedly.

"W-why are you smiling, Beck?" he asked. Taking notice of my subconscious grin, I shook my head and raised a paw, a motion I hoped Rye would understand meant no reason. Despite that, I knew full well why. That look from Noctowl was quick, but it spoke volumes.

_'Just because I'm like this doesn't mean we can't win the Guild's respect. If we play our cards right, Team Reach might just make it in this world.'_

* * *

The sun beat down on us as we stood below the training grounds' imposing entrance, staring up at the familiar carvings. As instructed, we had showed up so I could receive whatever training Bert the Wartortle had in store. I pushed the unpleasant memories I associated with this place out of my head as Rye looked to me.

"You sure you'll be alright, Beck?" he asked half-seriously.

"Yeh," I reassured him. Nodding slightly, Rye watched me start into the grounds. As loud clashes and explosions from sparring matches rang out around me, I made my way towards the river in the back of the grounds, biting my lip nervously. I knew it'd be fine, given my past experience with Bert, but the fear and uncertainty of what would happen was still there, especially knowing what everyone else here must have heard. As promised after Team Dawncrack's visit the previous day, they'd posted it on the news board, and judging by the whispering Rye and I saw from most passersby while we passed, I could assume our misadventures were decently well-known.

_'All I hope is that they at least know I'm not gonna... I don't know, eat them? Squeeze the jelly out of their eyeballs? Ugh, who knows what they expect from me.'_

As I weaved through a team walking opposite me, I caught sight of the small arena of the Water-type grounds ahead of me, only this time someone was there to greet me.

"Ah, Beck! You didn't forget and ghost me, good for you!" Bert piped as I approached. Taking a quick glance around, he leaned towards me.

"Alrighty, this session'll be easier for the both of us without an audience. Take this, why don't ya?" he asked, offering an empty bag.

"Wha?" I asked perplexedly.

"It's watertight, designed to hold in air. Chances are you'll need to breath out of it at some point, my place is in the river and I'm gonna assume you don't have gills," Bert explained, only confusing me further.

_'The river? Your place? How are we going to train in your house?'_

Reluctantly taking the bag, I quickly followed Bert as he dove into the river. Apart from the more abundant silt in the water, I felt this was familiar territory. My messed-up arm by my side, I took a moment to thank the creator for giving me a tail as I swam after Bert, minding the Basculin swimming by. Soon enough, we reached a small structure carved into the rocks on the riverbed, which contained a dark, unimpressive space that Bert looked over proudly.

"It ain't much, but it's mine. Oh, just wait till the movers get my stuff in, then... eh, it still won't be much. But it's better than sharing a room with a flock of Wingull, I can tell you that," he snorted.

"Shaah?" I asked as I pulled out my scalchop and gestured to it, my uncertainty mounting. Bert looked at me, his face shifting to that same deadpan expression I had seen yesterday.

"I, uh, thought I made it clear we weren't doing physical training, not with your arm like that," he said. I couldn't help myself, I let out a long, admittedly obnoxious whine in response. Undeterred, Bert continued.

"However, I think I can help out in one regard. I noticed you picked up a couple more words since we last met, but I don't reckon two words a week will do you much good. That being said, I might can help," he said. As I looked on, he tucked his arm into his shell, keeping it in there for a minute before it came back out clutching some kind of blue lump.

"I've been told about the whole amnesia thing, but you do know what gummis are, right?" he asked. I shook my head.

"...right, you didn't even remember what your tide was. Er, I reckon you should try it first so I can explain it. I was gonna take it to the inn to get it juiced, but you probably need it more than I do," he said, offering me the gummi. Hesitantly taking the gummi, I looked it over. Nothing screamed off to me, though after the poisoned apple in Arid Riverbed, I was reluctant to stick whatever this was into my mouth.

"Well, I haven't drugged it or anything," Bert said jokingly, watching me as I examined the gummi. Swallowing hard, I took a small bite off of it, bracing for the horrid side effects that were undoubtedly about to follow.

_'…whoa.'_

I couldn't quite find the words to describe what I had just tasted. The rich flavor left a sweet but sharp aftertaste as I swallowed it, leaving me feeling oddly nostalgic. Before I could quite process this, I found that I had swallowed the rest of the gummi in one swift bite. Clearing my throat, I looked up apologetically as Bert chuckled.

"There's different kinds that work for different types of Pokémon, though what really sells these things is the boost they give you. I't makes you more, how do I say it... perceptive to learning new things, even if for just a little while. Don't know how it works, and I don't care," the Wartortle explained. I nodded, beginning to understand where this was going.

_'Okay, he's going to teach me some new words, then. Okay, I can do this.'_

"So, this is the reason I wanted to do this in here, because if anyone saw us doing this, we'd never be able to show our faces again," Bert continued. "Basically, you're gonna be spending the next little while rolling your tongue around to make sounds. Make the right ones and I'll have you repeat them till you've got them down, then from there you can use them to learn to speak easier. Understand?"

My prior bewilderment returning, I gaped at Bert. Spending that long just rolling my tongue in my mouth? Surely he wasn't serious here? As he looked at me expectantly, I let out a long, bubbly sigh and began to do as he said.

"Shaaalaaaweeeeh..." I slurred, clutching to my bag of air and silently cursing my broken arm again as I took a seat, resigning myself to this exercise as Bert kept watching, just the slightest amount of pity appearing in his eyes.

* * *

"Alright, Rye, it'll be easy. J-just ask Ms. May for a book, yeah... easy..." Rye mumbled to himself.

Unsure of what else to do while Beck was away, he had decided to go ahead and fulfill his suggestion regarding Beck's apparent literacy in Unown-script. At the moment, he was standing before Team Apex's base trying to work up the nerve to knock on the doorframe. Even after six months of apprenticing with them, Rye still wasn't entirely comfortable with even talking with them.

 _'I mean, they're_ the _Team Apex, anyone would be pretty nervous. I could just walk away and no one would judge.  
_

_...ugh, no more excuses, Rye. Um, here goes, I guess.'_

Biting his lip hard, he knocked on the doorframe and waited. When no one showed up, he knocked again, only to be met with another minute of silence. With a sigh of both relief and disappointment, Rye turned around to leave, only to catch a glimpse of a tall figure behind him.

"BOO!" it yelled. Rye jumped back with a loud yelp, crawling backwards as he took a proper look at the figure.

"Eugh... damn it, Mr. Arden," he groaned as his shock wore off.

"S-sorry, kid, it's just... you were there like that, and I couldn't resist!" Arden said gleefully as he helped Rye up. "So! We actually need someone to help us out; we're trying to help the Kecleons with a shipment. I was coming to try and see if anyone else was home, but since you're here, could you come and help us carry a couple loads?"

Rye's eye twitched as Arden looked down to him.

"I... I just want to ask you something, not-" he started.

"Great! You can ask while you help us out," Arden said.

"B-but..." Rye tried to argue, only for Arden to grab his hand and drag him along as he trotted towards town. As Rye yelped and tried to wrestle away from Arden, the unfazed Quilava suddenly paused as he entered the town square, looking at a small crowd that had gathered around a lone Shiftry who addressed them all with a loud but soft voice.

"Consider, Pokémon of Impetus Town. Is our world truly better than what we had a thousand years ago? Can we really run this world better than man of old? Should we not maybe use their example to better benefit our world?" the Shiftry asked.

"Well, seeing as humans were just made up by the Societies to keep the town governments in check, we can't exactly do much about that, can we?" a voice called from the crowd. The Shiftry crossed his arms.

"First, that's just idiotic, and second, you say we can't do anything, but how can you be sure?" he asked. As the crowd whispered among itself, Arden raised a paw.

"I mean, humans sound nice and all, but could they ever handle sugma?" he yelled. The Shiftry cocked its head.

"What is sugma?" he asked.

Arden gave a response indiscernible to Rye before once again grabbing his arm and running out of the square, cackling as the Shiftry fumed at whatever he had heard. After a minute, Arden slowed to a walk and sighed.

"Yeah, that's the Phoenixes for you. You know, bunch of hippies with goons shouldering them going on about how they wanna bone humans or some shit. We read about what happened in Arid Riverbed, so you've already met them by the looks of it. Any explorer who goes around is bound to see one of those weird rallies; I really just stick around to watch because it's fun seeing crazies speak their mind," he explained as the Kecleons' shop came into sight.

Apart from the usual green and purple Kecleons manning the shop, several Pokémon including Pike and May were helping carry and sort large crates filled with a variety of items. The green Kecleon quickly noticed Arden and Rye and gave them a hearty smile.

"Ah, Quilava! I see you've brought some more hands, thank you very much!" he said jovially. As Arden rejoined the group, he gestured Rye over to help pick a box of seeds off the ground. As they hauled it along, Pike stopped to look down at Rye.

"How you doin', kid? The feral givin' you any trouble?" he asked, getting a glare from Rye.

"His name's Beck, and he's good, Mr. Pike. We trust each other, I-I told him what happened at Mount Twist," he said. May gave a small gasp as Pike sighed a bit.

"Alright, I guess, but ya know ferals. They're unpredictable little bastards, one of 'em ran off with a good amount of our Poké while we were goin' through Basculin Strait. We're here for a reason, kid, so just... yeah, be careful with... er, Beck," Pike replied. Rye growled just loud enough for Pike to hear as Arden set down the box, cracking a grin.

"Come on, Pike, lighten up, the kid didn't do shit. Besides, if we want money, we can just ask May's folks!" he said. From not far away, May scoffed.

"Why mine?" she asked.

"You know their line of work, they should have plenty to go around! Besides, mine are in Giratina's back pocket, Pike's probably never wanna see him again, so you're it by default!" Arden said. Rye sighed and began sorting seeds from the box as Team Apex continued their banter.

"Yeah, that conversation'll go over well. 'Oh mom, please hold off on beating me senseless and robbing me of everything of worth!'" May said mockingly. Pike turned away from Rye to glance at the Leafeon.

"Ah, be nice about it, May. I never met them, but they'd be nicer 'bout it, I think," he said, draping a wing over Arden. "Y'know, just wrap a wing 'round Arden's shoulder, lean in real close, and ask their dear son-in-law if they can consume his soul to retain their youth!"

Arden sent Pike a glare as he went to haul another box over.

"What do you mean 'son-in-law?'" he asked. Pike rolled his eyes.

"Oh, fuck off! Do ya not feel the sheer tension in the air around ya two literally all the time? Nuzzle, make an egg, anything!" he said, waving his wings and getting several offended looks from the other volunteers.

"Maybe we'll consider it if you go and nuzzle Raticate on the cheek," May said after a moment. Pike just barely held in a gag.

"Alright, alright, fine, you win," he said, running off to find something else to do. With Pike gone, Rye walked up to Arden and May, who had taken to quiet discussion in Pike's wake. As Rye cleared his throat, they trailed off to glance at him.

"C-could I ask you something, Ms. May?" he asked.

"Sure, go ahead," May repled. Rye shifted in place as his former superiors watched curiously.

"Um... Beck and I were wondering if we could borrow a book on Unown-script. W-we found some in Bassa Vilage and, uh, we were curious on what it said," he said, handing the juice-stained paper Beck had written on to her.

"Hm, most of this looks like gibberish, but if you're sure... we'll see what we can do, I guess. Meet us at dinner and we'll give you what we can find," she said.

"Thank you," Rye said. As he turned back to the mass of seeds, he thought back to Beck.

_'I wonder what Mr. Bert's got him doing? Not to hate on the Kecleons, but surely it's less tedious than sorting seeds.'_

* * *

"...aaaafneeeghh." I unenthusiastically continued to vocalize before Bert raised a paw to stop me.

"Hold up, there. That was an 'n.' Gimme another one," he said. I stopped to scour my brain to try and remember how exactly I had gotten that out.

"...n-nah," I eventually tried.

"Do it again," Bert ordered.

"Neaagh."

"Again."

"Naaghh!"

With that last frustrated yell, I threw my paws up, accidentally releasing the air from the bag Bert had provided. As the bubbles floated up and gathered on the ceiling, Bert watched them concernedly.

"Welp, looks like you might have to suck those off the ceiling when you need to breathe. Might be an issue," he surmised. The next minute or so saw me screaming things that for once made me thankful no one could understand what I was saying. As I calmed down, I eventually turned to face a clearly spooked Bert.

"...s-saah-reh," I tried to pronounce. Bert's unease was quickly overshadowed by a large smile as he swam over to clap me on the back.

"See, now? You're already gettin' the hang of it! Just bear with me for a little while longer, alright?" he asked. With a slow, surprised nod, I went back to my long, disgusting noises while Bert encouraged me on.

* * *

The sky was becoming dark over the Guild's training grounds as I resurfaced at the Water-type zone, unsure of what to think of our session. Judging by how I'd ended up swimming back to the surface for air, I could infer we'd been down there for two hours at most, and sure, while all the inhuman noises I had made over those two hours had eventually had me manage out maybe a dozen new sounds to form into words, there was still the fact that I hadn't learned a thing besides that. As if knowing this, Bert breached the surface to look at me apologetically.

"Sorry we couldn't do much other than... er, that today. I know you must have wanted to practice techniques, but I'm gonna hold off on those till your arm heals, alright?" he said.

"Y-yas," I replied, prompting a wave from the Wartortle before he dove back down into the inky water. As the river stilled, I turned to leave the grounds, which had been occupied by mostly Dark and Ghost-types with the arrival of night. I found Rye waiting below torchlight at the entrance, watching the specters nervously before I caught his attention.

"Oh, h-hey. L-let's get to the mess hall, I really don't like this place at night," he quickly said, taking my paw to quickly drag me away from the training grounds. Once we had gotten a good distance away, he slowed down to talk to me.

"So, what'd you learn? Like, did he teach you Razor Shell, or...?" he asked.

"Naah," I said, tapping my mouth.

"Uh... he... just taught you to talk, I guess? Huh, well, I guess..." Rye said. The rest of the walk passed in silence before we headed into the mess hall. I was about to get in line as usual when Rye took my paw to drag me elsewhere.

"Rye, wha yeh..." I tried to ask.

"Remember what I said yesterday about Unown-script? I asked Ms. May about it," he said before we stopped in front of an occupied table.

"Hey, Ms. May, y-you said that, uh...?" Rye asked. Before us, Team Apex turned to look at us, trailing off from whatever conversation they had been having. As Pike's expression fouled, May brightened up.

"Oh, the Unown thing. We've got a good source here with us if you want to look at it. Arden?" she said.

"A good source? It's the best in the region!" Arden boasted as pulled a thick book out of his bag and slammed it down in front of us. Looking down at it, I found big, golden letters written across the leather cover in sloppy Unown-script.

_'Arden's Big Book of Horrors. Um, okay...'_

"Here, let me just try to make a chart here," he said as he flipped through the massive book, eventually stopping to tear a spare page out (much to Pike's horror) and began to write runes down from the book en masse. Once the page was filled, he handed the chart to us, though Rye didn't seem to be done yet.

"Th-this is your main notebook, isn't it?" he asked in awe.

"Yep, two-hundred and fifty pages of boring historical fuckery," Arden said.

"Can I... m-maybe flip through it?" Rye requested meekly. Surprised at this, Arden paused for a minute before quickly nodding.

"Er, just don't read the Sinnohan on page 84 aloud unless you want to get possessed by fifty or so ghosts, don't get the stuff on page 101 in any orifices unless you want to die vomiting your guts out, and don't look at page 160. There's nothing weird or anything about it, you'd just be better off without ever seeing that, trust me," he cautioned.

Unfazed by these warnings for once, Rye began flipping through the book with an enchanted look on his face, looking over page after page of writings and odd illustrations I couldn't quite make out and asking questions the whole while. After maybe ten minutes of this, he stopped on a page with what looked like a map to look at a line of text.

"Mr. Arden, what's this word?" he asked, pointing to said line. Arden took a quick glance at the term in question before humming to himself.

"Hrm... well, you know how we call this land Gray Proper, right?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Rye said.

"Well, it wasn't always called that. Back when humans were still around, they had a different name for Gray Proper and the surrounding regions," Arden explained. Rye cocked his head.

"S-so, uh, they called it Uhn-oh...?" he tried. Giving a knowing smile, Arden waited a minute for effect before correcting Rye.

"They called it Unova."

* * *

"Unova... does that mean anything to you, Beck?" Rye asked as he fluffed up his bed. I didn't respond, instead continuing to stare off trying to figure out this revelation.

_'I... I know that word. Think, Beck, what does it mean? I... is it where I came from, maybe?'_

Blinking hard, I went to pull our map out of the bag, unrolling it to look it over. As usual, it looked foreign and strange, not like any landmass I might have recognized. But surely... I began turning the map every which-way, scanning it for landmarks until I stopped. Upside-down, the map seemed to ring a bell. Yes, it was upside-down, inconsistent with what I knew in terms of biomes, and several areas looked to have been submerged in water, but...

_'...this is home.'_

I stared forlorn at the alien yet familiar map for what felt like hours before the distant tolling of a bell snapped me out of my daze. Panicking, I quickly doused the base's torch before rolling up the map and putting it away. As I waddled to my bed, I noticed Rye giving a concerned look.

"...so is it..." he asked quietly. I only provided a simple nod before lying down. After a minute, Rye joined me, and as his shuffling and the singing of Kricketot outside echoed through our base, sleep claimed my sufficiently boggled mind. As I felt myself drift off, I couldn't help but linger on that thought, repeating it mentally like a twisted mantra.

_'This is home. This is home. This is home...'_


	23. Alone Together

As the first light of morning brushed against his scaly hide, Rye stirred in bed, his body filling with ebbs of energy as his Grass-type nature began to photosynthesize the warm light. Despite the comforting feeling, he couldn't bring himself to fully enjoy it, as he was too occupied by one detail in particular.

He had been woken up a while ago by Beck, who had gotten up to shuffle to the door, sitting down to stare at the sky blankly. If Rye understood correctly, he had been like that ever since, his breath shaky and melancholy clear in his form.

If the week and a half of discrimination and stressful dungeon-diving he had seen was anything to go off of, Rye knew that Beck could take a good deal of punishment, both physical and mental, so he wasn't entirely sure what had driven him to this state. As such, the longer Beck watched the sky, the more unsettled Rye became.

_'Maybe I should ask him?'_

Rye winced at the thought. He knew trying to talk to him now probably wasn't the best idea, but Beck was his friend. If he had to know...

* * *

_'This is home.'_

I stared up at the sky, watching the endless expanse as the stars glided through the sky, slowly being drowned out by the first light of morning.

_'Those damn stars...'_

Averting my gaze from the sky, I instead pulled my scalchop off my chest and took a long, loath-tinted look at it. Just... here I was feeling normal about growing a damn melee weapon out of Mew-knows-where. What would human me have thought about all the shit that seemed normal now? What was what I had left even like?

_'...it doesn't matter.'_

When I had first gotten a good look at those stars and recognized that this world might not be so alien, there had been some room for denial. So what if the constellations were the same? It very well could have been a coincidence or some alternate universe thing. With what Arden had told us last night about this 'Unova' place, though, I couldn't deny it anymore.

_'This is home. There's no 'real world' waiting for me. Just... the world that hates me for existing.'_

Gritting my teeth, I slammed my scalchop into the ground, leaving a sizable dent in the dirt floor. I had woken up maybe an hour ago to that revelation, and finding myself unable to take my mind off it, I had sat down here to try to process it. I wasn't sad about this, surprisingly: why grieve for family I didn't know in the first place? What did irk me, though, was the thought that whoever that family might have been, any chance of returning to them had passed centuries ago.

_'Humans have been gone for centuries, right? Unless I was some sort of thirtieth-generation survivalist living away from anyone's sight, would that mean I'd have to have lived before those centuries? If that's the case, then...'_

"Beck? What's the matter?"

I jumped and quickly clutched my scalchop, turning to find Rye groggily standing behind me, clearly concerned. With a heavy sigh, I shook my head, sloppily setting my scalchop back onto my chest. This didn't quite satisfy the Treecko, who took a seat next to me.

"Come on, w-we're friends, right? You can talk to me. Uh, what's going on?" he asked. I hesitated for a bit, eventually just pointing back into our quarters towards our hastily closed bag and the map still hanging out. A minute passed before Rye nodded in understanding.

"What Mr. Arden was saying... it... I know what it's like to lose someone, trust me. But, um... S-Sinni talked to me about how it's never good to dwell on the past, and..."

He stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts as I kept my gaze on him. Eventually, his shoulders dropped as he sighed.

"L-look, I don't think I could ever entirely understand what's going on with you, and I'm sorry for trying to compare myself to you... just... you can talk to me if anything's on your mind. I'm here for you, alright?" he said.

"...yeh," I eventually replied. Giving me a weak smile, Rye relaxed in place as we quietly continued watching the sunrise. As the sun chased the last of the night away, the clanging of the wake-up bell began to sound in the distance. With that, Rye pushed himself off the floor.

"How's breakfast sound?" he asked. I agreed, so once I got to my feet (easier said than done with only a single functioning stubby arm), we made our way down the path as Pokémon began to file out of their quarters. Approaching the mess hall, I began to hear loud crashes coming from inside, earning a confused scrunch of my face. As we got closer, Raticate suddenly clambered out of the hall, clearly roughed up and panting to himself. After a quick minute of catching his breath, he scrambled back in.

"Alright, you little..." he growled before jumping back into the kitchen through the window.

"Fleeh! Fleeech!" a loud voice screeched ferociously before some kind of bird burst through the mess hall's roof. As I watched in disbelief, it spewed a couple fireballs into the building before Raticate jumped out propelled by a Quick Attack, slamming into it and sending both careening back down into the building. With this, another series of crashes and loud swears from Raticate began to ring out from the kitchen. As the crowd of onlookers grew behind us, I listened as the noises made way to hard blows and squelches, the thing's cries soon turning into pained gurgles as the commotion died down. Once the gurgling finally stopped, a minute passed before Raticate, covered in debris and what seemed to be blood, leaned out the door covered in dust and what seemed to be blood to give the Pokémon gathered a drippy, red-colored smile.

"Sorry 'bout that! One of them feral Fletchinders Team Joules brought yesterday broke out. Hey, it's a head start at dinner, right?" he piped. As the Pokémon around us chuckled and began filing in, Rye silently led me into the forming line by the paw as I shuddered, horrified at what had apparently just occurred. A couple minutes passed before we found ourselves looking at a still bloody Raticate looking quite proud of himself as he prepared a couple trays, seemingly ignoring the feathers, rubble, and fluids scattered all over the disarrayed kitchen.

"Hey, how you... er, what's the matter?" he asked as he took notice of us. Gulping, I shuffled back a bit. Giving me a confused look, Raticate began to add to his question before stopping short and taking a quick look down at himself. His face fell.

"...oh. I, uh... sorry, I..." he trailed off, his eyes wide as he looked back up at me. Choosing not to pursue the topic any further, he cleared his throat and quietly handed us our food, giving me a remorseful look as we hurried to an open table. My appetite having left me, I pushed my tray aside as Rye joined me, giving me a quick pitied glance before digging in. Blinking hard, I stared off to start considering my position again.

_'Right, where was I? Uh... yeah. If there's nothing left I can realistically go back to, then... I've got Rye at least willing to help. I mean, surely there's something I can do to make things better if the interview with that Noctowl was anything to go off of...'_

Eventually, I just bit my lip and nodded to myself. There wasn't any revelation or show-stopping decision behind it, just an vague bout of determination. To do what? Who knows.

With that in mind, I pushed the image of a bloody Raticate out of my mind and reached for a berry. From there, it was back to usual, save for the several Fighting-types hauling rubble out of the kitchen. Of course, with the usual came my simple human mind betraying me.

_'Alright, we've got... what is this, soup? That's new, I'll just... hm? There's no spoon...'_

"Rye? Sh-shpehn?" I tried. All I got in response was a confused look from Rye as he finished his own assorted berries.

"Um, what?" he asked.

"Shpehn?" I inquired again.

"What's a spehn?" he asked. Realizing this wasn't going anywhere, I tried drawing it out on the table with my paw. While my crude sketch was recognizable as a spoon, it didn't do much for my case.

"Oh, you mean a spoon. Uh... w-why would you need one? You aren't a Psychic, are you?" he asked.

"...sha," I waved him off. Rye started to ask another question, though gave up before anything got out. I thought I heard him mutter something about humans being weird under his breath as he picked up his bowl of the soup and started slurping it down. After a quick glance at my broken arm, I figured I'd go without the soup. I mean, unless I was about to lap it up like a Lillipup, then I supposed I could go without it.

_'Either way, I blame this world's culture. Again, what happened?'_

A few more minutes passed before we finished our food and turned our trays in to a still-bloodied Raticate.

"So what do you think we should do today? Maybe we could see if Ms. Audino's not busy? Uh, if she is, we could always work on your writing," Rye suggested as we made for the door. "Ooh, maybe we could head down to the river and try to train you some more! I mean, if Mr. Bert's not doing it, then-"

He was abruptly cut off when a blur of gray sped out in front of us. As it stopped just in the doorway, we both recoiled as the form of a Weavile made itself clear.

"Heya, squirts," Mustie said, watching us warily as we frantically looked for an exit. Seeing this, he raised his horrifyingly long claws up into the air in a gesture of peace, which only served to intimidate us more for some reason.

"Hey, hey, we ain't gonna hurt you, not in here. We just wanna talk, alright? Cool your shit," he said. At this point, his Persian partner... er, Gold, I think, caught up with him, sitting down next to Mustie.

"L-leave us alone," Rye said.

"Alright, I know we've-" Mustie began.

"We don't-" Rye interrupted.

"Just-"

"Go away!"

"Listen to me, you little fff...!"

Mustie took a deep breath as he swallowed back his clear anger and forced a smile.

"Now, then. I know we didn't get off to a very good start, so, ya know, Persian and I wanted to talk to you head on," he began.

"Why aren't you using your names?" Rye asked suspiciously. Mustie pursed his lips in poorly concealed frustration.

"Hello? Public decency, anyone?" he said before straightening up. "Alright, Persian? You said you wanted to do it, so..."

Gold cleared his throat.

"We, uh, wanted to apologize, yeah? For what happened back at the river?" he said. "Uh, both parties made their mistakes, but we admit our own, and we'd like to try and make up. Whaddaya say?"

Rye narrowed his eyes as the two watched.

"What are you really doing?" he asked. Mustie's fake smile faltered.

"What?" he asked.

"I know you, you wouldn't just apologize," Rye responded.

"Excuse me? What do you take us as?" Gold interjected as Rye shifted in place.

"B-bullies, mostly," he managed. In response, Mustie's facade shattered as he just barely stopped himself from lashing out, gritting his teeth in suppressed frustration.

"Don't even try to pull that fuckin' term on us. We've heard it too many damn times to count. Just... we wanna get off on a fresh start, what's so hard to accept there?" he growled. Rye stepped forward, now visibly upset.

"I don't want anything to do with you! Y-you told me to give it up back when I first joined, and-"

"Oh, what, you're gonna push us away over a damn joke? Yeah, okay, sure," Mustie said.

"I came all the way from Mt. Twist, and you just told me I was too young, that I was a wimp, th-that I didn't have what it took!" Rye snapped back. Mustie raised an eyebrow.

"All the way from Mt. Twist? Heh. You sure like goin' on about your oh-so-mysterious past, don'tcha?" he said. Rye stumbled back.

"Wh-what?" he choked out.

"Can't blame a 'mon for being curious, can ya?" Gold said. At this point, I stepped forward as Rye stared at the two, horrified.

"Shnagh!" I warned them, only to be met with a chuckle from Mustie.

"Yeah, Oshawott brings up a good point. We at least know where it came from, but not you, Treecko! Might we ask _why_ you came all the way from Twist?" he asked. Rye's eye twitched as he clenched his fists.

"G-go away," he said.

"Come on, Treecko, give us the scoop! Surely if you're keeping it from us, it's gotta be juicy!" Gold said with an ugly smile as the two started approaching Rye. They almost immediately jumped back as Rye let out a yell and swung at them with a faintly glowing tail. After a minute of shocked silence, they regained their composure.

"Oh, you wanna fight? Alright, then, ice on grass, let's see how that ends for you!" Mustie boasted. I gritted my teeth and brandished my scalchop at the two Pokémon. Mustie scowled in response as he grabbed my shoulder, unsheathing his claws as I reared back my good arm to strike at him.

"Ohohoho, you wanna get fucked, too? Alright, you little..."

He trailed off as he took notice of something behind us. Looking back, I saw most of the Pokémon in the mess hall silently watching us in horrified anticipation, more notably Cinccino and several others giving us a warning glare from the table at the hall's end. After a minute of this, Mustie sighed and pushed me away, stopping to shoot us a distasteful look.

"Don't think we've forgotten about the crap you pulled back on the Serperior. You better watch yourselves, you little shits. Y'know, maybe unless you give us a chance instead of endlessly sucking off Quilava," he snapped before the two pushed past us to storm back into the rows of tables. As I stood at a loss, the silence behind us quickly melted back into lively conversation. After a minute, Rye gave a shaky breath and quietly continued walking.

"R-Rye?" I said, hurrying to catch up with him.

"Not now, Beck," he said, his voice dripping with venom. I hesitated for a minute as he seethed beside me. If this really was Unova and everything else I knew was gone, then I knew I wasn't content with my only friend being like this. But I wasn't sure if I really could help him here...

_'...I can try, I guess.'_

"Rye... sh-h-her feh yeh," I said in earnest. Rye stopped, blinking a few times before giving a weak smile.

"Thanks," he said quietly. With that, we continued up the path, a visit to Ms. Audino in mind.

* * *

As dusk began to settle over the Guild, I sat and watched as the Water-type training grounds rang with the sounds of battle. While I wasn't particularly excited for two more hours of inhuman noises, I took solace in the idea that it wouldn't last for too long.

When Rye and I had visited Ms. Audino earlier in the day, she had told me that my arm was healing at a healthy rate and that I should be able to use it in a few days. So, you know, that was nice.

What was less nice, though, was the odd look I got from the nurse as we left the sick bay. While no words were exchanged, her knowledge of my condition quickly came to mind. Even if she did just dismiss it as the delusions of a madmon, it still wasn't very pleasant to think about, especially when what I had lost was already on my mind. If anything, it just served as another reminder...

_'No, Beck, don't go off on this again. Focus on what's in front of you.'_

Shaking my head a bit, I went back to watching the sparring match in the small Water-type arena. Trying to take mental notes as I observed, I followed Bert as he weaved through his Floatzel opponent's legs, avoiding a Pursuit as he spun around, exhaling hard.

"Bad move. You could've used your tails there to swing at me," he said hurriedly before swinging a hard Aqua Tail into the Floatzel's knees, sending him falling to the ground. Before the Floatzel could get back to his feet, Bert swung at him again, stopping just short of his head. The two froze, waiting for a minute before Bert climbed off him, dusting himself off as the Floatzel got to his feet.

"I reckon you're too used to standing in one place and trying to use techniques. You've gotta learn to move more in battle. We'll be working on that next time, yeah?" he asked. The Floatzel gave a gruff grunt as he walked away, making sure to give me a suspicious look as he walked by. With that, I hopped off the short wall surrounding the arena and waddled over to Bert.

"Hey, kid. What's the matter?" he asked as I approached. I gave him a confused look.

"Wha?" I asked.

"I noticed you were lookin' a bit blue while I was sparring. Er, figuratively since, y'know. Seeing as I'm teaching you, I reckon you can talk to me about it. It's fine if you don't wanna," he said. I hesitated as he started washing away the debris around him. Bert was a nice Pokémon, but I wasn't about to tell him about my past. If what happened with Rye was any indication, I figured it wouldn't end well.

_'Then again, I do need to talk to someone. Maybe just a few details; not the whole story? Alright, um... how do I say it again? Surely I've heard someone use a word I could use here...'_

"...l-lahss," I managed out after a minute. Bert snapped his head up to look at me.

"Loss? Hm, did you lose something important?" he asked. I shook my head no.

"Did you lose someone?"

Biting my lip, I nodded, making sure to tap my head to try and indicate I didn't remember them. Thankfully, this was enough for Bert, who took a seat on the arena's siding.

"Yeah, I feel you. I knew this beautiful Dragonair back when I was fighting in the war. She and her family were here from down south to try and flee Tyranitar's rule, and we got to know each other real well," he reminisced. "I mean, I never had to see her die, but after I joined ol' Brine's cabal about twenty years back, she hopped a Lapras for the Sun Continent twenty years back and I've never seen her since. I doubt she'll ever be coming back, so I just sorta... moved on, I guess. I tried to make myself a new life, make new friends, and tried to not dwell on her. Not sure how well you can do that living with fifty Wingulls, but eh, what're you gonna do."

He sat there for a while, staring at the floor as he reveled in the memories. Eventually, he smiled sadly to himself before standing.

"Alrighty, let's get to business, we don't have much light left. I think you'll be happy to hear we won't be going to my place again," he said. I cocked my head, intrigued.

"While I won't be able to train you to the fullest extent with your arm like that and since I don't have another gummi, I figured we could still somewhat work on techniques. You still remember Water Gun, right?" he asked.

"Yeh, sah," I said.

"Well, with a bit of practice, you can make it more than just... you know, that," he explained. To demonstrate, he closed his eyes to focus a bit, then shot off a Water Gun at the floor, though it didn't quite seem like the standard technique I'd come to know. Rather, it seemed more focused and high-pressure, and once he stopped, the stone had a sizable mark to show where it had been hit.

"You see this? With enough practice, even the biggest Grassie will be cowering in fear. What do you think?" Bert asked.

I grinned manically as the Wartortle looked back up at me.

_'When do we begin?'_


	24. Technical Difficulties

My grin plastered onto my face, I eagerly nodded, prompting Bert to shoot me a grin before stretching his neck. After a few cracks sounded, he tapped his front paws together, apparently trying to figure out how to explain the topic at hand.

"Hm, let's see here... okay, fire a Water Gun," he instructed. I obliged, shooting a jet of water into the air and getting a hum from Bert.

"You've gotten better at that, I've gotta say. Looks more well-rounded than the one you shot off at the river, good to see you've been improvin'. Now then, you clearly understand how your tide works, so I think you shouldn't have too much trouble here," he mused. As pride swelled within me, he continued.

"Now, then, have you been trying to experiment any with your tide?" Nodding, I grabbed my scalchop and waved it in the air as Bert watched, giving me a nod of his own.

"Razor Shell, I'm guessing? Not bad, not bad. Well, then, it looks like I won't have to explain too much about redirecting energy. So, uh, get another Water Gun ready. Don't fire it off quite yet," he instructed. Doing as he asked, I instinctively welled up some energy up through my chest.

"You got it? Alright, try to focus it into a point."

I tried to squeeze the energy in my throat, trying to mold it to as fine a point as I could. As I worked, however, I started to meet some resistance. Growling under my breath, I pushed harder.

_'Wait, fu-'_

Before I could stop myself, the energy discharged throughout my body, leaving a familiar intense burning in its place. My vision tinged with red, I tried to scream, only for a weak wheeze to escape my lips. I fell to the ground, unable to breathe as my neck throbbed with that red-hot pain. As I writhed on the ground, fearing I was about to black out, I felt something get hurriedly pushed into my mouth. Instinctively biting down on it, I felt whatever it was send juice dribbling down my throat, easing the pain and allowing me to gasp for air.

"...come on, kid, breathe!" I heard a faint voice yell. As my vision cleared and my breathing steadied, I found the taste of Oran in my mouth and Bert kneeling over me, panic clear on his face.

"...sh-sha," I croaked. Bert let out a loud sigh of relief, sitting down as I tested moving my arms.

"I'm sorry, kid, I... I shouldn't have pushed you. You obviously aren't quite ready for what I've got in mind, and I... ugh, discharging is never fun, lemme tell you," he said regretfully.

_'Not ready? I... I can do it... just...'_

I tried to peel myself off the ground, only for a shoot of pain to force me back down. Realizing my limits, I slumped back down in defeat as Bert kept watching me with shame in his face. Powerless to do anything else, I just stared up at the darkening sky above as I waited for the burning to subside.

_'I can...'_

* * *

"Uh, Beck? Where you going?" Rye asked.

"Rivah," I said, not breaking my stride as he followed me out the door and into the rain outside. It had been a day since my disastrous training session with Bert, but I hadn't been able to take my mind off it. Even though I had tried to tune it out with trying to improve my speaking, the thought still weighed down on me. Water Gun was an okay move, but definitely not optimal in the long run, so I was determined to try to get the high-pressure variant Bert had shown me right. However, it seemed Rye had noticed my woes if the looks he'd been giving me during our speech session were anything to go off of.

I mean, I can't blame him. Seeing Bert haul me home in a big heap of sad isn't something I'd easily forget.

As I tromped along the muddy road in the direction of the training grounds, and by extension the river, Rye walked next to me, watching me concernedly.

"I know what happened with Mr. Bert isn't sitting well, but I, uh... this isn't... y-your arm's not healed, Beck. You'll hurt yourself," he warned.

"Rye, sheehh," I said, raising my paws reassuringly. Rye stared at me for a minute before sighing dejectedly and turning to go back to our quarters.

"Alright, I won't stop you. Go ahead and... y-yeah. If you need me, I'll be on a walk, I guess," he said as he headed back up the road. With that settled, I continued on my way. As you'd expect with a rainstorm, not many Pokémon were out and about, though almost all of the ones I did see were Water-types. Why this was wasn't lost on me, as the rain seemed to give me a small hit of energy with each drop. It felt good, rejuvenating me for the training to come.

...could I call that training? It seemed more like meditating in my mind, honestly.

Once I reached the river, I took a deep breath and jumped in, swimming down to the riverbed. Sitting against a decently-sized rock, I began to focus on the river currents around me, putting my mind at ease. With nothing distracting me but the pleasant underwater environment, I willed some energy up through my body, trying to focus it as Bert had instructed. I wasn't sure how long it'd take, but I knew I'd figure it out. I mean, just getting this into a point couldn't be that hard, right?

* * *

" _I really don't think I'll ever understand you. Why go out now?" the Treecko asked._

" _Why not? It's rain, 'mon, it's, like, perfect weather for tag!" his friend responded. The Treecko gave a dubious look._

" _Maybe if I were Water, yeah," he said. The Totodile rolled his eyes._

" _Oh, come on, Rye, you're a Grassie! If anything, you shouldn't even be fazed by this!" he piped, swinging his arms up to grandiosely gesture towards the sky. The Treecko hesitated for a minute. Soon enough, he chuckled a bit and shrugged, stepping out into the rain._

" _Alright, fine. You win. Don't say I didn't warn you, Dill," he said. The Totodile gave a victorious laugh as he started to flee, the Treecko tailing him and-_

Rye blinked, snapping out of his stupor as he stood just beyond the Guild's gate, rain pouring down on him. Mud sloshing between his toes, he couldn't help but reminisce on simpler times. While yes, he had found a friend behind Beck's feral nature, he wasn't entirely sure how or if it would hold up.

 _'I mean, he's human. Who knows how they treated their friends. And, uh, if the stories about humans becoming Pokémon_ _are true, then... I... I don't think I'm ready for that.'_

His woes were not helped by Beck's insistence to better himself, should it be through training with Bert or whatever he was doing at the river as of now. Either way, it was beginning to worry the Treecko, as he had seen firsthand what happened when Beck decided he wanted to see something through. While Rye had talked with him about this briefly, he was unsure if this would continue or not. Only time would tell, he supposed.

Before he could ponder this further, out of the corner of his eye Rye noticed Cinccino leaning out of her kiosk to give a concerned glance.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" she asked. Hurriedly nodding, Rye pulled his feet out of the mud and continued on his way, ignoring numerous whispers from the teams filing around him. As he turned the corner towards Impetus Town, a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree, causing him to flinch violently and scramble for cover. As he did, though, his memories chose this moment to continue playing out.

" _AIEEE!" Dill shrieked, clearing the twenty feet to a nearby abandoned hut in a matter of seconds. As Rye shook off the shock of the thunderclap, he found himself sporting a rather large smug smile as he caught up with his friend._

" _What's wrong? This is perfect weather for tag, isn't it?" he asked, gesturing to the sky. The Totodile shrunk back, his eyes darting as he watched the dark clouds._

" _Th-that was before the thunder started! Like, really, y-you can't expect me to not be nervous when lightning-" he stammered._

" _Nervous? You jumped six feet into the air!" Rye said. Dill grew hot with embarrassment._

" _I-I did not!" he retorted. As Rye smirked and opened his mouth to argue otherwise, he noted Dill's terror beginning to subside and a scheming glint appearing in his eyes as he watched rainwater leak in from the ceiling and soak into the earthen floor._

" _Okay, here, I'll just..."_

_The Totodile scooped up a large glob of mud from the ground and rubbed it all over Rye's chest, immediately wiping the smirk off the Treecko's face. Choosing to ignore his loud protesting, Dill stuck a single mud-coated hand up and bowed his head._

" _Oh, mighty Groudon, give us protection... or something!" he said in an exaggerated deep voice before looking back up to his unimpressed friend. "There, that probably counts as Ground-typing, now you're immune to the lightning!"_

_Rye responded with his own glob of mud to Dill's face. Waving his arms around blindly, Dill wasted no time in retaliating. The two spent a good while in this mud war, laughing as they tossed whatever they could scrape up at each other. Soon enough, the two Pokémon silently agreed on a ceasefire, looking over their filthy selves._

" _Oh, 'mon, Ma's gonna kill me once she sees me like this," Dill said._

" _Hey, don't worry, it's not like Sinni's gonna come out and-" Rye began._

_Before he could finish, a shadow appeared over the hut's opening. Snapping his head up, Rye met eyes with exactly what he had feared: a young Croconaw, her face morphing from suspicion to horror at the sight of the two. Dill stared up at Sinni for a second before immediately clambering out of the small building. Rye wasted no time in following as Sinni swiped to grab him and gave chase as the two filthy Pokémon scrambled away, laughing all the while as she roared in frustration._

" _I swear, once I tell Ma, she's gonna-"_

"Rye?! Rye!" a voice called out.

Gasping slightly as he was pulled out of the flashback, Rye looked around to find May running up to him, her eyes wide.

"What are you doing out here? Are you trying to get washed out?" she demanded. Still in mild delirium, Rye just stared back, his breath still shaky as he struggled to put together a response.

"I... j-y-you..." he began. May's face fell in recognition, and as Rye continued to gather his thoughts, she gently wrapped a leaf around his wrist and led him along. Soon enough, the two stumbled through the door of Team Apex's base, and as May shook the water out of her fur, a lone apprentice ran over to check up the two.

"Ma'am! You alright? What were you out there for?" the Ralts asked once she found the two were alright.

"It's nothing, I was just going out for Treecko here," she explained. Hearing this, Arden appeared over the balcony on the second floor, looking quite confused.

"Rye? It's pouring out there, what..." he began. May shot him a glare.

"He's having an episode. Lay off," she said. As Arden bit his tongue and shrunk back, May led Rye to a large fireplace, where they sat in silence as they dried off. Eventually, Rye, who had returned to coherence for the most part, turned to look at the Leafeon.

"I, uh... w-wasn't expecting you here," the Treecko said. May snorted to herself.

"Yeah, we took the day off," she said before turning her head towards the balcony and raising her voice. "Y'know, because a certain somebody couldn't be bothered to go out over a little rain!"

"Would you go outside if it were raining fire, May?" Arden's agitated voice yelled in response. As May rolled her eyes, she looked back to Rye, her gaze softening.

"What happened, Rye? You know it wasn't y-" she asked. Rye quickly interrupted.

"I know, I know! It's not that, it's just..." He shifted uncomfortably as he stared into the fire. Soon, though, he inhaled sharply.

"It's Beck, ma'am. He's... I'm worried about him. He's been acting weird," Rye said.

"How so?" May asked interestedly.

"Well, um... h-he's been charging into things without thinking them over, and, uh, something happened last night when he was training with Mr. Bert. He said Beck discharged through his neck while trying to use a technique or something," he explained. May nodded.

"Mmm. I've dealt with that before, just be glad he's Water-type. Arden's discharged more time than I can count, and Fire-types really don't discharge well. He says it's like getting burned alive from the inside. Just barely-" she explained before pausing. "Sorry, I'm rambling. Go on."

Rye sighed.

"H-he's just been focusing on that all day. He's at the river right now; I don't know what to do. Like, w-what if he stays like this? What if it gets worse and he gets someone hurt again?" he asked. May took a minute to consider this.

"...I'd just talk with him, you know? Start out nasty to take out his ego, then try to talk some sense into him," she reasoned. Rye flinched.

"W-what? W-what do you mean 'nasty?' I can't just..." he said. May sighed a bit.

"Trust me, kid, just speak your mind. It should do the trick," she reasoned.

"H-how do you know?" Rye asked.

"When your parents are thieves, you learn how to get what you want. I mean, I haven't seen those bastards in ten years, so I think it'll work out for you," May explained. "Besides, Ardie and ol' Fuss and Feathers don't tend to bother me, so I figure it'll work on Beck."

Rye took a minute to consider this.

"A-alright, I'll try if I get the chance, I guess..." he eventually said. The two watched the fire for a minute before May smiled humorously to herself.

"What?" Rye asked, noticing this.

"Nothing, just... it strikes me as funny that you're having this kind of trouble with a feral, of all things. I mean, a month ago, you'd have been worrying about one of them getting in here and stealing the food, and now here we are. Just... it's a little odd," she said. Rye paled a bit.

"Um... y-yeah, it is." he said.

"Actually, that reminds me," May said. "How's that chart we gave you? You know, the Unown-script?"

"W-we haven't really gotten the chance to sit down and really look it over. Why?" Rye asked. May's muzzle scrunched up a bit.

"Ardie's been a bit antsy about that for some reason. He says he's probably just overreacting, but he's been talking to himself a lot. I've heard a bit about Beck and how he's feral, but that's about it. You have any idea what might be up?" she asked.

"Er, no, ma'am," Rye said, fidgeting his fingers. He knew he had to move on to another topic quick before he accidentally revealed too much.

_'Alright, just think, Rye. Uh... something like...'_

"D-do you have anything I could eat?" he blurted out.

_'Damn it, not like that!'_

May blinked at this sudden turn, though after a bit, she nodded, hoisting herself up walking over to a small hole with a ladder sticking out.

"Ralts, could you get some jerky from down there real quick?" she called down into it. She was only met with shuffling and frustrated groans from the hole.

"I can't, Snom's trying to eat the gummis again!" Ralts' voice called up. May clenched her teeth.

"I swear with that kid, just because he's about to evolve doesn't mean..." she muttered under her breath as she jumped into the basement. As Rye watched on, loud yelps and sounds of struggle started sounding from the hole.

"Hold still, you little-"

"No! My foo-it gummy!"

"Augh! What'd I tell you about using Powder Snow?!"

Rye didn't lift a finger, though. This was but another day in the life for the common apprentice. He almost missed it sometimes, but in the end, he was glad to be free of the other apprentices' shenanigans.

All he hoped was that he wouldn't end up missing those, too.

* * *

_'Come on, just work with me! Don't... agh! Stupid...!'_

Frustrated, I put my paws on my head, allowing the energy I had summoned up to flow back into my core. I'd been at this for maybe twenty minutes now, but I hadn't made any progress in my efforts. Every time I'd tried to will this stuff into a focused point, I'd met resistance and had to try again. I knew not to push it past that point, but I was starting to consider it for lack of a better option.

As I calmed down, I tried again, preparing a Water Gun and trying to mold it as gently as I could.

_'Alright, I've got a good feeling about this one. Just give it a good nudge or two, it's like willing a sand castle together with your mind. Easy... no, no, just... FFFF-'_

I cursed loudly, releasing much of my air supply in the process. As I watched the bubbles rise, I let out a groan and started flapping my tail to get more air. As I breached the surface, I went to sit by the riverbank to rest from my training. Rain still falling around me, I took the moment to just sit there. I clearly wasn't making much progress here, maybe I should just throw in the towel?

...no, that couldn't be the case. Maybe I just needed to loosen up more? Maybe another twenty minutes in the drink would help?

I turned to face the river, taking a breath to jump in. I hesitated, though, as a seed of doubt began to whisper in my mind. I knew deep down that this was pointless, but surely...

"Shaaagh!" I yelled, stamping my foot in frustration. After a minute, I hung my head and started on the path back to the Guild proper. I knew I wasn't reasonably going to make my Water Gun any better anytime soon at this rate, but I had already spent this time working on it. Maybe I'd just try tomorrow?

_'Ugh, just take the L, Beck. Just try again in a week or two once your arm heals and you get better, I guess.'_

I tried to reassure myself of this as I walked along, keeping this up even as I plopped down in my bed, dripping wet and shivering slightly. Seeing as Rye hadn't come back, I resigned myself to staring at the ceiling.

_'Yeah, just... what am I doing wrong? Am I just not good enough, or...? Ugh, who knows.'_

* * *

The rain was beginning to let up as Rye stepped outside, his belly full and his mood slightly improved. May quickly followed, watching as he stepped out onto the muddy road.

"You sure you're gonna be alright?" she asked.

"Y-yes, ma'am. I think I can manage, but... er, what exactly do I do once I see Beck?" Rye questioned.

"Like I said, be nasty and-" May began.

"I know, I know, b-but what if he keeps it up and gets us into trouble? Last time it happened it didn't go too well, and, er, I don't really know any ranged moves if it comes down to it," Rye said.

"Hm... have you learned your egg move yet?" May asked, sitting down next to the Treecko.

"No, ma'am, I don't think I have one," Rye said. May gave him a dubious look, but chose not to pursue the topic as he continued.

"W-what I really wanna know is how to help him out for the time being. Mr. Bert said he was trying to focus a Water Gun, how do you avoid discharging when you're doing that?" he asked. The Leafeon pondered a bit before turning her head back to the team base.

"Oi! Arden!" she called. The Quilava in question leaned out the second-story window, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you do to not discharge when you try and customize a technique?" May asked. Arden flinched slightly, though thought about it for a bit.

"...I'm not sure how your core works, Rye, but if you're trying to shape it into something it won't naturally try to do, I'd just keep in mind that you aren't entirely dominant over it. Your core is a powerful thing, it's arguably what makes you a Pokémon. You have to coexist with it, you know? Try to guide it instead of command it," he explained. Content with this, May nodded.

"Yeah, sounds about right. Take it from the guy who almost died trying to make fire swords," May said. As Arden's curses over this remark were drowned out by the flames bursting from his back, she gave Rye a smile.

"Just keep what I said in mind, yeah? Stay safe," she said before heading back inside. With that, Rye started on his way back home, his head held high all the way to the team quarters. As he entered, Beck sat up with a start, his glum expression faltering slightly as he saw him.

"Rye..." he started.

"I think I know how to help you out, Beck," Rye said, a smile on his face.

* * *

_'Guide it, not command it? What does that even mean?'_

I wasn't quite sure what Rye was on about, but as I stood in the street outside of our base with him watching, I figured I might as well give it a try. I mean, I was happy for any option presented at this point, so why not?

Trying to keep Rye's advice in mind and letting the thin drizzle the rainstorm had become blow over me, I brought some energy up as per usual, trying to not 'command' it. Naturally, I ended up with that all-too-familiar feeling of resistance, so I tried again.

_'How do I 'guide' this?'_

Taking a moment to consider, I closed my eyes to try a more diplomatic approach, attempting to imagine how I wanted the energy to manifest as it flowed. I tried to imagine my tide as not just a part of my body, but something equal to me, something fighting as one alongside me. It could end me and I could end it; it was the brawn and I was the brain. Working in unison with it, I could-

I snapped open my eyes, not feeling any resistance for once. Rather, the draw of Water-energy had settled within my throat, focused to a point and ready to fire.

_'Wait. What? Alright, something's gonna happen and mess it all up, right?'_

Silently praying, I released it. A thin jet of water shot out of my mouth, sending me stumbling back a few inches and leaving a small but deep indentation in the mud. I stared at it in disbelief until I felt something clap me on the back.

"You did it!" Rye exclaimed, beaming as I continued to gape.

As the realization that I'd succeeded finally clicked, this quickly turned into a massive grin, which gave way to loud, victorious cackling as I pumped my paws into the air. We stayed there for a while, hooting and hollering to whoever was in earshot. As we celebrated, I couldn't help but feel optimistic looking forwards. I mean, as long as I kept things good with Rye, then...

I cracked another wide grin.

_'Things are looking up, I'd say.'_

* * *

"Sire, this is Xatu. Can you hear me?"

A powerful wave of telepathy was sent out as Xatu stood atop the Phoenix League's underground headquarters. He waited patiently for a minute, and when he received no affirmative, he tried again.

"This is Xatu. Subject Blue has been identified as an Oshawott working within the Adventurers' Societies. Do you copy, sire?" he said, sending off the message with another telepathic wave. Still no reply. Clicking his beak in frustration, Xatu turned to return inside, where one of his fellow executives was waiting.

"Well?" the Archeops asked.

"No response. The leader is still busy, it seems," Xatu said flatly. Archeops ruffled his feathers.

"Why do we even need his permission? He'd approve anyways, surely he wouldn't mind if we went ahead and started the-"

He grunted as his beak was psychically clenched shut. Xatu, barely skipping a beat, sent a harsh glare his way.

"Operation Kindle cannot be started as such. You know what is at stake here, Executive Archeops. We have waited for this for twenty-five years, surely another week or so is not an issue?" he said icily. Archeops let out a series of muffled noises, prompting no discernible reaction from Xatu but causing him to release his beak. As Archeops gasped for air, Xatu turned to look over the hall.

"The leader will be most displeased to hear of this. If the world is to be started anew, we cannot have such disregard towards his authority going around and-"

Xatu suddenly stopped. As his crests rose, Archeops cocked his head.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Someone else is here listening," Xatu whispered urgently. Archeops, realizing what was about to happen, backed away and watched as Xatu turned his head to stare at a seemingly empty section of wall. With a powerful jerk of his head, the atmosphere of the room shifted dramatically, causing Archeops to suddenly feel as if something was wrestling for control over the room, inciting great unease in him. Just as he couldn't bear it anymore, the presence suddenly disappeared. Feeling this, Xatu straightened and turned to face him.

"You are to inform Executive Claydol of this immediately. Such a breach in our psychic protection cannot be overseen," he commanded. Archeops hurriedly nodded and flew into the main hall, quickly disappearing behind a corner.

Now alone, Xatu turned to stare out the entrance and into the sky, emotionlessly pondering what this could mean. How much had it heard this time? How much did it already know? Was it in contact with the human?

Such questions incited a blink from Xatu as he turned to head into the hall, quietly muttering a defiant message to the intruder, assuming it could still hear him.

"You cannot stand in the way of what is to come. You are still weak from the Ruin, and your power here is meager at best. Do not think this changes anything; despite the difficulty you have brought upon us, you cannot hide what is happening from your human forever."


	25. An Educational Evening

"Seh! Sehr!" I called, bounding towards the river. As usual, the sun was just starting to dip down, casting an ever-dimming gold light on the area as I ran through the training grounds. Waving my good arm eagerly, I pushed past a pair of departing Pokémon to find Bert in the small Water-type arena, facing the river and preparing to dive in.

"Shah!" I called. Bert flinched, nearly falling into the river as he staggered in place. Once he regained his balance, he turned to face me, surprise clear on his face.

"Kid, hey... uh, I was just about to head on home, didn't think you were comin' after... uh, last night," he said, dropping his gaze shamefully. "Er, what brings you here?"

Giving a knowing smile, I started to concentrate within myself, letting the familiar sensation of energy in my gut flow up. Trying my hardest to repeat my success from earlier, I once more tried to imagine myself in equal union with my tide rather than above it, setting a course for the wave accordingly. Much to my relief, it complied to what I wanted, so I shot at the floor. The shallow mark it left was all it took to gobsmack Bert, though his astonishment quickly gave way to a dry but hearty laugh from the Wartortle.

"Well, I'll be damned! How'd you manage to figure it out? Took me weeks to get past discharge my first time!" he piped.

"Eh, Rye," I said. Bert cocked his head.

"Ain't he a Grass-type...? Ah, what in distortion. I'm proud of you, kid. From here, you should be able to branch off and get more techniques down. I, uh, managed to figure out Hydro Pump and Water Pulse by getting this down early on, and with enough practice with what I learned from it, I managed to make substitutes for Surf and Aqua Jet. I think you'll be able to get those down without too much issue; just bear with me from here, alright?" he requested.

_'...Water Pulse, Surf, and Aqua Jet? Wow, that's... wait, I thought Pokémon could only know four moves at a time? I, uh... was that just a misconception or have things just really changed that much?'_

Seeming to interpret my thoughtfulness as wonder, Bert continued.

"Er, what do you reckon we take tonight off so you can rest?" Bert offered. My grin faltered a bit.

"W-wha? Nah," I quickly declined. I had already come all the way out here, leaving without learning something just seemed... wrong to me. Bert raised an eyebrow, which looked rather strange from a Pokémon without any hair to speak of.

"No, kid, I insist. You've earned it," he said. I shook my head, prompting him to pause and think.

"Hm... I don't have anything planned, so... eh, what if we just sat down and talked?" he said as he took a seat at the arena's side, offering me a seat beside him. Figuring I wouldn't be able to sway him, I accepted and joined him as he ran his paw through his fluffy tail, sharing in an awkward silence between us. Soon enough, he looked up at me.

"I've, eh, been meaning to ask you about this. I know you're an impressed feral and all, but there's been something nagging at me. Like, you're smarter than most of them, I get it, but... um, from what I've heard, most of them shouldn't pick up this quickly on... y'know, speech, techniques, so on. Actually, it's a miracle you can even understand me, so I've been told," he said. "So... is there, like, some kinda weird plant you ate where you came from that made you like this? Were your parents like you and just passed it on?"

As I warily shrugged, Bert paused his tail-fidgeting, narrowing his eyes as something apparently clicked in his mind. After a minute, he snorted to himself and muttered something under his breath.

"Wha?" I asked.

"Eh, it's just some stupid idea I had about how you got like this," he said, prompting me to lean forward. Noticing my interest, he lightly bit his lip. "Uh... you've heard of humans by now, right?" he asked.

_'...I don't like where this is going.'_

Discreetly gulping, I nodded, prompting him to continue.

"How about the stories of Pokémon that used to be human?" he asked.

_'Nononono, don't say it, please don't... wait, what? There's... more?'_

I shook my head.

"Hm, well... uh, the stories say that sometimes when things start going bad, a Pokémon'll turn up claiming to have been a human. Like, er, let's say a Legend's gone out of commission or some disaster starts affecting things globally. A Legend would throw a human in as a Pokémon and send them to stop it, you know, sort everything out. Uh, apparently a good few of the greats of history were part of this: you know, Grandmaster Louie, Lee the Lightbringer, Sai of Nibira City, those kinds of Pokémon. Personally, I think it's a bunch of shit, but... uh, just now the idea that you were one came up. You know, thought it might explain how you're this intelligent, how they found you in that dungeon, and... er..." he said, trying harder and harder to suppress a smile as he spoke. He paused for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"I'm sorry, j-just... me mentoring that kinda Pokémon, just... hah, wow! Pretentious, am I right? Honestly, my ego...!"

As Bert rocked back on his shell wheezing, I allowed this information to sink in.

_'There's... others like me...'_

A minute passed before Bert regained his composure, by which point I had decided that maybe skipping out was a good idea after all. I didn't want to stick around and accidentally validate his theory, so I quickly bade him well and turned tail to head back, soon meeting Rye back at the grounds' entrance.

"You're back a little late, uh, what was up?" he asked, getting to his feet to start back up the road. I tried to answer, though I found myself not quite sure how to communicate my question. I mean, it seemed straightforward on paper: are there other Pokémon that were human? Then again, there was a good bit more I wanted to know about this. You know, who they are, where they are, what they did, whether I could meet them or not, so on. Only while we were settling down for dinner did I decide to give it a shot.

"Rye?" I asked. The Treecko looked up from his bowl of Fletchinder soup.

"Hm?" he asked, his mouth full.

"Uh... m-ma... hoo-mens?" I whispered, gesturing to myself. When I was met with confusion from Rye, I dipped my paw into my bowl of soup (wasn't gonna eat it, anyways) and drew a small row of stick figures, an arrow pointing between one of them and myself. As I started to add on to the other figures, Rye seemed to recognize what I was going for.

"Uh... other humans like you? Is that what you're asking about?" he whispered. I nodded, prompting Rye to look around warily before continuing.

"I, uh, didn't think you wouldn't know about them... uh, yeah, there have been others," he said. When I kept waiting, he shifted and continued.

"Um... the only way I really know how to explain it is how Mom used to tell it..." he said, his face becoming tinted with red as he hesitated. Eventually he looked over his shoulder to check if anyone was watching. "Let me see if I can remember... uh, as the world fell into chaos and humans fled the... their homelands from what they saw as the end times, the desperate Legends began to scour their realms for something to save their dying world. Soon enough, they looked to the p-place between worlds, where they took a human soul and sent it to... uh, awaken in Pokémon flesh. Throughout the thousand years following, six humans rose to save this world from chaos... and... I'm sorry, I can't... uh, a-and guide it to a brighter future. Uh, it's been a thou- er, hundred years since the Haxorus Kiba fell in battle and left the world without a human to guide it, and we... watch still for..."

Rye stopped to shake his head, his face burning with embarrassment but a small smile on it nevertheless.

"Sorry, just... th-that's how she told it, honest!" he said, a laugh breaking through his words. We shared a laugh as he hung his head, casting another quick glance around. After a bit, he stood from his seat.

"I think I've had my fill, you wanna head back?" he asked. I quickly agreed, so we quickly got in line to turn in our bowls. With nothing much else to do, I let myself space out and think.

_'So there've been six like me before, and all of them ended up saving the world. So if that's the case..._

… _just what have I gotten caught up in?'_

* * *

"Alright, Quilava, 'ere's your Fletchinder breast. Tell your little demons to eat it all tonight; once the Fire energy seeps out, it tastes like crap, lemme tell you," Raticate said, holding out a small sack. Gratefully accepting it, Arden gestured to his waiting teammates to follow. Clutching the sack in his mouth and hoisting it over his shoulder, he dropped to all fours and led May and Pike out the door, stopping to shudder as the humid evening air hit him.

"I'd really like to talk to whoever came up with air humidity and ask them what the fuck they were thinking," he said as May rolled her eyes.

"If you want to wait it out, by all means, go ahead. We can stay away and let the kids raid the basement again," she said. Arden sighed, unwilling to argue with the Leafeon, and started out into the night. As he did, a sudden quiet squawk came from Pike, which was quickly followed by a couple of Pokémon shuffling past. A quick look up revealed them to be Rye and Beck, the latter of which seemed to have been in deep thought, though he now looked back towards the trio.

"Sah-reh," he said apologetically as Rye gave a nod of greeting to May. As the two quickly walked off, Pike growled to himself.

"I swear with that damn thing..." he grumbled as they started towards the Guild's entrance. May gave a sarcastic dry laugh.

"There he goes, just when we were about to be home free of this for the whole day! You owe me 100 Poké, Arden!" she said. Arden didn't interject as usual, only watching as the two waddled around a corner. In the meantime, Pike clicked his beak.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, look at me being worried. Just... it's too good to be true. A feral that knows to not rip ya throat out? Bouffalant shit, something's gonna turn up, I promise," he said.

"Come on, Pike. He saved our asses back on the Serperior. Besides, if Rye hasn't, y'know, died yet, then-" May started.

"Oh, we woulda survived that! We've been through worse!" Pike rebutted. As May opened her mouth to respond, she stopped walking, noticing Arden's silence and his mouth now moving quietly. Giving a quiet sigh, she turned to face a confused Pike.

"Could you take the food to the apprentices, Pike? Arden and I have to talk," she said. The Swellow's face scrunched up, though he soon nodded.

"If ya say so," he said, taking the sack from Arden and clutching it in his talons. As he prepared to fly off, he shot his two teammates a sly smirk.

"If this is some kinda confession, then-" he began.

"Pike," May warned. With a chuckle, Pike spread his wings and flew off towards the team base. With him gone, Arden and May continued along the path.

"Look, May, I told you, it's nothing," Arden said flatly.

"Ardie, come on, if it's nothing, you wouldn't be worrying about it," May responded.

"Worrying? I'm not-"

"You're talking to yourself. I mean, they just asked about Unown-script, right? Why're you so worked up about this?"

As they turned onto the road to their base, Arden hesitated as he scoured his mind for something to say.

It seemed Arcanine's concerns were contagious, as Arden now couldn't help but worry that he was right in his theory of Beck's true nature. The circumstances of his discovery, his general intelligence for a feral, the team's sudden interest in human writing... it seemed too much of a coincidence. Then again, he was most likely just jumping to conclusions. After all, most of the time coincidences were coincidences, nothing more to them. For now, he figured he would just try to stave off May's concerns so he could put this behind him.

"...I don't know, I... I guess it's just we taught Rye too well, y'know? He's already moving on to deciphering human script; he'll be on our level before we can do anything to slow him down. I mean, I don't know, that's my guess," he lied.

May shot him a look in response, clearly not buying this excuse. Seeing this, Arden gritted his teeth, knowing full well the implications of the Look. Before he could defend his case, they stopped at the team base's door, where Pike was waiting with an envelope in his talons and mindful of the dozen apprentices behind him cheering and tearing at the hunks of meat the three had brought home.

"Arden. Ralts was diggin' through the mail pile and found a letter for ya," he said, plopping it into Arden's paws. Happy for an excuse to escape the conversation, he tore it open and squinted at the letter within, soon giving an audible groan.

"It's a summons from Audino," he said. "Says the team leader's gotta go, so whoop-de-fuckin-doo, I guess."

As he heel-turned to return to the Guild proper, Pike gave May a nudge.

"Well, May, he's cheatin' on ya with Audino. Ain't that something?" he asked just loud enough for Arden to hear.

"Pike, I swear by Xerneas...!" the agitated Quilava yelled back.

* * *

As Rye tucked our bag away, I sat on my bed, idly rubbing my scalchop as I stared off, unsure of what really to do now. In the past few days, I had been given a fair bit of insight of this world I now lived in, and to be frank, I was just left with more questions than I had before. I mean, I was still working on accepting the idea that my family was long dead and that I was living in the ruins of my old homeland, and suddenly I was being told that I was probably tied up in something that meant the end of the world (er, again, I guess) if I failed?

I mean, that voice did imply that I was here to do something big, but... wow.

_'Thanks for keeping everything so vague, Mr. Voice, sir. Real glad you withheld all this from me.'_

As I stuck my scalchop back on my chest and started idly pacing the floor, Rye cleared his throat.

"Hey, uh, unless you want to practice that new move tomorrow, we could start looking over that Unown chart Ms. May gave us. You know, try to use it to teach you how to actually write. What do you think?" he asked. Snapping out of my anxious state for a minute, I turned to look at him. After a moment of consideration, I answered.

"Yeah," I said. Content with this, Rye resigned himself to sitting by the window, alternating his gaze between the cloudy sky and Mizu's Iron Thorn on display. Returning to my pacing, I stared at the floor, still ridden with stress over what I now knew.

_'Nothing's come up, maybe I'm just unique? Maybe I was just sent here on accident? That'd explain the whole feral thing, I guess. But... just... agh! Mr. Voice, just talk to me! Tell me... I don't know, what I'm here for! Maybe what I'm supposed to be fighting against? Damn it, even just why I was thrown here like this! Anything!'_

My silent pleas were only met with silence.

_'...please...'_

* * *

As the last of the day's visitors ambled out the waiting room's door, Audino gave a smile, turning to retreat into her room up the ladder in the lobby. Closing the door behind her, she plopped down on her bed. Being the head nurse for a Guild of over two hundred Pokémon was no easy feat, she could say that for certain, though she kept to it nevertheless. After all, in the event that the meager pay and beaming smiles weren't enough, then she at least had other methods of dealing with the job.

Pulling an exquisitely-crafted glass bottle filled with liquid out from under her cot, she popped the cork out and poured herself a glass. The distinctive smell of fermented Razz juice met her nostrils as she put the bottle back away As she made to sip from the glass, a sharp rapping sounded from downstairs. Sighing, she put the glass aside and peeked out the door into the lobby below, where...

Audino gave a light groan.

"Good evening, Arden," she said, disgruntlement seeping through her usual cheerful voice. Arden had been in and out of this infirmary countless times throughout fifteen out of the twenty years Audino had been in this position, and she had learned to expect the worst when dealing with Team Apex. She never thought she would have to memorize the specific anatomy of Leafeons and the Cyndaquil line, but alas, they found ways time and time again for her to refer back to those charts. Pushing back the unpleasant memory of having to quite literally push the young Cyndaquil's guts back into place, she climbed down to meet Arden.

"You said you wanted me?" Arden asked. Remembering the summons she had sent out, Audino nodded.

"I thought I sent that out when you returned from Bewilder Forest? Five days ago, if I recall?" she asked.

"Probably got lost in all the other mail. You know how it is with elite teams," Arden said, beginning to sniff the air. Audino nodded and went behind her desk, opening a drawer and pulling a solitary file out.

"Seeing as you were responsible for him at the time, I'll be giving you Beck's medical file from his stay here," she said as she walked up to Arden, who was now looking up the ladder to her room, still sniffing loudly.

"Is that booze I smell or-" he started. Audino quickly shoved the file into his paws, forcing a smile as she lightly cleared her throat. Giving her a wary glance, Arden opened the file and began to read over it, muttering as he read aloud.

"Alright, blah blah, payment will be calculated from resources spent. Stay was a week, diagnosis was poisoning, trauma to the chest, traces of water in lungs, head trauma, and..."

He squinted.

"Split mind? What does it mean 'split mind?'" he asked, confused. Audino nodded sadly.

"Beck did appear to be suffering from a rather severe case. He exhibited evidence of delusions while he was under my care, though that could have been attributed to the poisoning," she explained. Arden looked up, his confusion now morphing into uncertainty.

"D-delusions? Did you ask him about them?" he asked. Audino sighed.

"I have seen many split-minds like him, the best thing to do is not encourage it by asking about it. I tried to ask Rye about it a few days on once the poisoning would have lost its grip on his mind, though-" she tried to explain.

Arden raised a paw to cut her off.

"What kind of delusions, Audino?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, confused.

" _What kind of delusions?_ " he replied urgently, giving her a wide-eyed stare filled with untold dread.

Audino pursed her lips.


	26. Out and About

"Fascinating..." Arcanine whispered, staring thoughtfully at the yellowed pages before him.

As lantern-light from the ceiling shone off the hundreds of trinkets along the walls of his office, the Guildmaster delicately closed the fragile book and nudged it back into the safe from where it had come, nodding respectfully as he closed the container. Glancing up from his small study area, he considered what he had just read: a classical Galarian play, perhaps 17th-century in the human calendar if the faded and somewhat tattered opening pages were to be believed, detailing a young human prince and his Litleo seeking revenge against his uncle, who had killed the prince's father for the throne. Alas, he could not determine how the tale ended, as a decent portion of the work's fifth act was missing or indecipherable when Team Apex had found the safe. Disappointing, yes, but this left just that little more incentive to explore the world left behind, he supposed. Perhaps with enough digging, the account of that fencing match could be found...

Adding yet another entry to his list of items yet to be added to his collection, Arcanine got to his paws and started for his living quarters. One of his assistants would arrive with his dinner shortly, so he decided that it would be best to wind down from his research for a while before they arrived. As he considered curling up by his brazer, he paused to glance at the human skeleton hanging from its stand by his quarters' entrance. Bleached from years of sitting in the sun, it persistently cast a ghastly grin at him as it seemingly judged him with its empty eye sockets. Arcanine had long since grown used to this, as was evident by a small humored smirk appearing on his muzzle. There was a scene in the work he had just read involving a human skull, he recalled. He couldn't resist.

Casting a quick look at the entrance hall to check if it was still empty, he stared into the skeleton's eyes, his face becoming etched with mock sullenness.

"Alas... poor Yorick," he recited softly, looking over to an imaginary partner. "I knew him, Klu-"

"SIR!" a voice yelled from the entrance.

Arcanine jumped and stumbled back as he whipped his head around to meet the source of the voice: Arden sprinting into his office, his eyes wide and flames periodically spurting from his back. As the Quilava tried to slow himself down, he slipped on the polished wooden floor and ran headlong into one of the columns of artifacts along the walls. The pile wobbled haphazardly before the top of it gave way, spilling several of its priceless contents onto the floor with a crash. Arcanine glared at him as he sat up, looking around himself in a daze.

"I, uh... s-sorry, sir," he muttered.

"You had best have a good reason for this, Arden," Arcanine said coldly as he walked over to begin the cleanup. Getting to his back paws, Arden handed him a rusted, long-deactivated Pokéball, joining in picking the mess off the floor. As Arden hastily looked over some yellowed plastic machine for damage, Arcanine looked up at him, his annoyance still clear.

"Why come to my office unannounced in such a hurry? And at such an hour?" he asked as he picked another old Pokéball off the floor. Arden clenched his teeth as he balanced the lightly dented machine onto the top of the stack.

"It's... it's the Oshawott, Guildmaster," he said. Arcanine's expression quickly shifted as he paused, choosing to drop the Pokéball from his jaws.

"Go on," he said.

"I talked with Audino about his stay, and the medical report said he..."

Arden stopped as if still trying to fully process what he had heard.

"...it said he believed he was human," he said, pausing to think for a bit. “Erm, besides that, there was what you noticed before and, uh, they asked us about human writing at one point. They're too early on to really worry about that, it... sir?"

Arden looked up to his Guildmaster, who had sat down in place and begun staring at the floor, now ignorant of the items strewn about on it. As the Quilava watched, Arcanine's face shifted from muted shock to uncertainty to something between fear and wonder in the matter of a few seconds, soon releasing a dry, humorless chuckle as he nodded to himself. With this, he turned to address Arden.

"Dark times lie ahead, Arden, for both Beck and the world. Your help has ensured that this Guild can now brace itself for these times, whatever they may be, though I ask that you remain wary. The last thing I want is for you or any of your fellow explorers to become casualties in whatever is coming. However, I still ask that no one hear of this. A mass panic would not aid in this scenario. Do you understand, Arden?" he asked. Arden shakily nodded, prompting a grateful but pained smile from the golden dog.

"Thank you. You are dismissed," he said. Arden looked at the mess still on the floor.

"I, uh-" he began.

"You are dismissed," Arcanine insisted, narrowing his eyes. Gulping hard, Arden nodded.

"F-forever forward," he managed before slowly leaving Arcanine to ponder among his strewn-about treasures. Climbing up the ladder out of the dug-out cavern, Arden started back towards his team base, staring off as he did so.

" _Humans are only known to awaken in times of great peril for this world..."_

" _Dark times lie ahead..."_

" _Arden?! Arden, can you hear me?!"_

Arden shuddered as he was struck with the memory, stopping his slow stride to let it wash over him. As he listened, May's panicked voice screamed for him over the roar of some collapsing city square, the trampling of troops charging out of their cover to face their foe, and dying yells all around him as he reached for the Eevee through the chaos...

Flash. The wounded, terrified Guildmaster Walrein sending his dying gaze towards the horizon as his Guild burned around him, his surviving apprentices trying futilely to save him.

Flash. The bloodcurdling battle cry of Tyranitar's armies charging forth to subjugate some poor town, the meager local Resistance forces standing their ground to defend against them.

Flash. The cold, soulless stare of Kyurem's yellow eyes into his very soul as freezing gusts blew around him, May at his side bracing for what they half-believed would be their final fight together.

Flash. A figure desperately pulling at his arm, trying to free him from whatever was holding him in place as screams and howling wind rang around him, rubble littering the cracked road he was sprawled upon.

…

_'That damn dream.'_

His memories of disaster and suffering past mounting on him, he crumpled to the ground, now uncaring of the mud caking the road. Having helped win the war against Tyranitar, Arden knew full well what the world could throw at some-mon like him, but... what was it about to throw at Beck, then?

As the Quilava trembled lightly, he could only think of a single word to escape his lips.

"Fuck."

* * *

_My name is Beck._

Sitting across from me, Rye squinted at the page full of the repeated phrase I had scrawled in footprint characters, a quizzical look on his face. With the help of the chart we had been given, I'd spent the last half-hour trying to translating the aforementioned phrase into the language Rye called Gray-tongue. Unfortunately for me, it seemed that Unovan didn't translate as elegantly as I had hoped.

"Uh... mine name are creek? I... okay. You used the wrong symbol for 'my.' It should be the two-toed Flyer footprint, not three-toed. And, uh, that's the plural for 'is,' you should just write the outline instead of filling it out," he explained. Looking down at the chart in paw and the hundreds of strange characters and words it displayed, I pouted. I had done what it said, right?

"Wha...?" I asked quietly as Rye kept reading the botched line confusedly.

"Alright, um, creek. What is... oh, you tried to write Beck here, didn't you? Y-you write your kind's name instead of your personal name," he said as he turned the page and took my pen. "For me, I'd write 'my name is Treecko,' right? So I'd write my footprint here to show that."

My confusion over this alien language only grew as Rye scribbled down what seemed to be the grammatically correct phrase, only with a typical Treecko footprint at the end rather than my name. If I was having this much trouble just writing an introduction, then I honestly wasn't very excited for what laid ahead. Besides, I wasn't even sure I'd remember all this by the end of the day. As if knowing this, Rye handed the pen back to me.

"Alright, j-just write another page of it, I guess. If it isn't in your head by then, write another page," he instructed. I slumped back in place, letting out a groan.

_'How does whatever sent me expect me to do anything significant if I can't even wrap my head around writing my name?'_

I still hadn't quite managed to fully comprehend what I had learned last night. I mean, things had been pretty straightforward the past few days, save for the Voice, the thieves and... uh, whatever Xatu was; nothing so far had really indicated that I was caught up in some kind of world-ending event. Having that suddenly told to me when I was just accepting that I was living in the ruins of my old homeland... well, yeah.

"Wh-what's wrong? Is it too hard for you? Uh, you don't have to if it's that bad," Rye said. I looked up to meet his gaze. I knew I had to talk to someone about it, but I couldn't talk worth a damn. If only...

_'Wait. I'm holding a pen. I can just...'_

Trying to focus and form my incoherent inner monologue into words, I started scrawling down a brief message in Unovan, praying I wouldn't butcher what I wanted to say. After several minutes of hard concentration and staving off Rye's steadily growing concern, I stopped to look over what I had written. It was sloppy, sure, but I could gather some meaning from it.

_Can't be a hero. Not good enough._

Satisfied with this, I handed it to Rye, who quickly understood what I was trying to do and took to the chart. A couple minutes of translation passed before he mouthed 'not good enough' to himself and stopped to consider.

"Beck, you... i-it's okay if you aren't satisfied with yourself. I... uh, I talked with Ms. May and Shroomish about this and they told me to be mean about this, but... agh... remember what I told you back in Arid Riverbed? All I want is for you to, uh, try not to charge into things, a-and don't worry if you can't. Promise me you'll work on that?" he asked.

I blinked as I recalled our confrontation in the dungeon.

_'...I promised. I... damn it...'_

As I hung my head in shame, Rye crawled over to put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry, I-I'm sure you can do it..." he said, sounding a bit unsure of himself but still hopeful. "So, uh, the whole hero thing... m-maybe you aren't really supposed to save the world? Like, nothing's really happened, right? Maybe things are changing! I mean, there's a few Pokémon like Mr. Arden and Ms. May who weren't human and saved the world, so... y-you know?"

I looked up at the Treecko, considering his words. Soon enough, I gave a nod, cracking a small smile. As I looked back down to the paper in front of me, I instinctively grabbed for the pen on the floor with my broken arm. Meeting only minor pain, I found myself testing the arm instead of doing the assignment, my smile only growing as I did so. I knew full well what this meant: It was only a couple more days before I would have to stop relaxing and return to spelunking through dangerous supernatural areas that posed a very serious risk of killing me horribly.

I could hardly wait.

* * *

The sun slowly sinking out of sight through the window, I tried to stay composed as Ms. Audino at last unwrapped the cast from my arm. Three days had passed | since that first writing lesson, and it seemed I didn't have to wear that damn thing anymore. I mean, sure, having a broken bone did mean ample time for tackling new words, writing, and non-physical moves, but I was just happy to be back in commission.

I didn't quite take into account the stench that came with peeling the thing off, though. If I recalled correctly, it was bad enough with human skin, but with fur... ugh. Scrunching my nostrils closed, I experimentally picked up Ms. Audino's nearby clipboard before she took it from my paw and scribbled down something.

"You should be able to safely return to work, though I advise a berry or two every day to get it fully healed," she said.

"Sh... shan kyeh," I said earnestly. Ignoring Rye's bemused look at this particular butchering, Ms. Audino gave me a happy nod before grabbing a rag to wipe the ick off.

"Say, Beck, did you tell anyone in Team Apex anything... er, personal recently?" she asked as she started gently scrubbing through the lightly yellowed fur.

"Wha?" I asked. Ms. Audino raised an eyebrow.

"Arden came a few days back to pay for your stay here. Once he read your diagnosis, he ran off like he had just seen a ghost. Do you have any idea why that might have been?" she asked.

Shooting Rye an unsure look, I shook my head, prompting Ms. Audino to hum and continue her cleaning in silence. Upon her finishing, she sent us on our way, sending me a look tinted with suspicion as we left. As we started back, I gave my arm a few pokes to ensure it wasn't about to betray me again, looking up at Rye once I was sure it was fine.

"Wha nah?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, uh, I-I'm not sure, it's way too late for any jobs. I think some of the others like gathering at the amphitheater this time of day, maybe we could see what they're up to?" he suggested. Indeed, there did seem to be raucous singing coming from up the road, so I supposed it wouldn't hurt to at least check it out.

As we approached, we found at least a dozen Pokémon sitting at the bottom seats, some holding instruments and playing a hearty tune. As we watched, a Gliscor noticed us and waved us down, a grin on his face.

"Hey, isn't that the Gliscor from the training grounds?" Rye whispered. As I shrugged, Gliscor insistently kept gesturing to us, catching the attention of a few of the other Pokémon in attendance. Their gazes now on us, I swallowed and led Rye down into the amphitheater, inciting a small cheer from the Pokémon as we took a seat. I idly bobbed my head to the music for a minute before the song finished and Gliscor took a stringed instrument from one of the others, offering it to Rye.

"Here, Treecko, you play something!" he said. Rye hurriedly shook his head.

"I, uh, don't know any songs," he said.

"Huh. Well, then, Gumshoos, you want-" Gliscor began.

"Hey, hey, wait!" a voice called from the other side of the ring. I looked over to the source of the interjection, only to find... ugh, a Weavile and a Persian.

"Agh..." I quietly groaned as Mustie leaned forward to address the others.

"Give it to Oshawott! Let's see what happens when you give a feral a banjo, eh?" he suggested, shooting us a nasty smirk as Gold laughed beside him. As Gliscor murmured humoredly, I found the instrument being plopped into my paws. Glaring at Team Assail, I was only met with the two waiting expectantly, sneers on their faces.

_'Okay. If that's what you want...'_

As Rye shrunk back in his seat, averting his eyes from me and the others, I examined the instrument I had been given. As Mustie had said, it did seem to be a banjo, seemingly held together with some sort of natural adhesive and its edges well-worn from use. Positioning it so my paws could reach, I gave it an experimental strum. The sound held a twinge of familiarity to it; maybe I had played banjo as a human? Who knows.

With this in mind, I started slowly plucking away at the strings. It was by no means great, but it was at least recognizable as a song. As the other Pokémon listened on, Rye peeked out from his cowering to look at me in bewilderment. Glancing over to Mustie and Gold, I happily noted their smirks had melted off their faces, only to be replace with ill-hidden shock. It was my turn to shoot them a grin as I kept plucking away, mentally singing along as I did.

_'Yankee doodle, keep it up; Yankee doodle dandy...'_

As I slowly strummed out the last few notes, the dozen Pokémon around us applauded as Gliscor took the banjo, awe clear on his face as he looked to Rye.

"Didn't think he'd manage that! Keep up whatever you're doin' to educate him, yeah?" he piped.

Choosing to ignore that last part, I looked around at the others as they talked, resting my gaze on Team Assail, who stopped their whispering to glare at me. I rebutted by sticking my tongue out at them, which only seemed to aggravate them more. Satisfied with this, I sat back as Rye sighed with relief, his tense figure relaxing as the banjo was passed along. As Mustie and Gold excused themselves, I found myself joining in the cheering crowd, not feeling like a feral among civilized Pokémon but a regular participant, feeling somewhat accepted as I swayed to the music's rhythm, night falling over us.

A good half-hour passed before the small crowd dispersed, so Rye and I started back for our quarters to get things sorted before dinner, our spirits high. As we approached, an object in the torchlight caught my eye: a letter in the mail slot. I pulled it out to hand to Rye, who quickly tore it open to read it over. His bright face slowly became one of confusion as he read it aloud.

"It's from Ms. Cinccino. Uh, a file detailing Be- uh, your stay at the infirmary over two weeks ago has been... l-lost? What... uh, this is just a notice, no action is needed... huh, did you take it when we visited Ms. Audino?" he asked.

"Wha? N-nah," I replied.

"Huh... I guess she just left it somewhere? Or, uh, maybe someone stole it. Y-yeah, to figure out which berries to drug," Rye suggested. I chuckled as the Treecko folded the letter up and headed inside. A minute passed before he emerged and we started for the mess hall, a little off-put but still in a good mood. As I shook off the heebie-jeebies, I couldn't help but wonder about this a bit.

_'Maybe someone did steal it, I don't know. Maybe... nah. I mean, who'd want to steal something like that? I'm guessing there wouldn't be much they'd want on there, right?_

_...right?'_


	27. A Pleasant, Uneventful Trip

"Right, then, that is everyone, I suppose. Greetings, all."

Xatu's voice rang through the small room as the seven other Pokémon in attendance silently watched him. A hundred and fifty feet below the Vertress Plateau, the executives of the Phoenix League had gathered for their monthly meeting, discussion of statistics and strategy in mind. Standing over them at the head of the table, Xatu paused to listen to their quiet feedback. Waves of distaste and annoyance met him, with one voice bemoaning this as another one of his wastes of time. Unfazed, he continued.

"Seeing as the Director is still absent, I shall be taking his place once again. I would like to discuss our actions over the coming weeks. We have seen a steady rise in interest in our cause over the past months, as is evident by our membership rising from a hundred twenty to a hundred thirty, and with the assurance that Subject Blue survived the transfer, this rise is-"

A quiet groan sounded from the Gengar at the table, cutting Xatu off. He gave a quiet sigh, though he nodded to let his fellow executive speak.

"How are you so sure about that? It looked to me like you lost the human. What groundbreaking discovery did you make that shows they made it through?" Gengar asked.

"As I have told you before, I encountered them while on a rendezvous in Arid Riverbed. The feral's thought pattern was far too orderly and complex to-" Xatu began.

"Yeah, a feral got taught enough to start thinking straight. Has to be a human, right?" Gengar butted in. "Face it, the human's dead, no one gives two shits about what you have to say otherwise, and you're gonna get demoted to distortion and back for what happened in Bassa Village!"

Xatu's face twitched as he stared Gengar down, the small stack of papers before him beginning to levitate.

"I assure you, I am correct in my assumptions. Simply allow me to finish," he said coldly. "You say nobody believes my words, but Executive Archeops has-"

"You've convinced him, now convince the rest of us," Gengar challenged.

A cry of agreement came from five of the six other executives as Archeops shrank into his seat, sending a look around to quietly plead for his reputation. The paper on top of the stack before Xatu began to crumple into a tight ball as he stared daggers into Gengar, who defiantly returned the stare knowing that Xatu was forbidden to even scratch him here. A minute passed before the tightness that had arisen in the air passed, signifying Xatu's return to calm. A piece of paper shot out from within the stack and hovered in the air for the other executives to see as he continued.

"Three days ago, our brothers in Impetus Town reported an anomaly in the local Guild's bureaucracy. They were able to discreetly secure this file from their infirmary and send it here," he explained as the executives squinted to read the messy handwriting. "This file pertains to a feral Oshawott who entered after having been discovered in a mystery dungeon over three weeks ago, and the diagnosis tab claims it appeared to be suffering from a form of schizophrenia, split mind for the uneducated. The additional notes here specify this resulted from apparent delusions of having been human."

Xatu remained still as he felt the executives' emotions shift from doubt to alarm and understanding. All but one, of course.

"So?" Gengar asked, his voice noticeably more hushed.

"The timeline matches up, Executive Gengar. One moon ago, Subject Blue was lost in retrieval. One week later, the documented case began when the Oshawott was brought in. As such, it is most likely that Subject Blue is currently this Oshawott and is serving within Arcanine's Guild," Xatu replied. A murmur arose from the executives as Gengar tried to form a rebuttal.

"I... b-but... y-you can't do anything by yourself. The boss is still away, so any decision's gotta be unanimous between all of us unless he comes back," he eventually said, his eyes darting around to make sure no judgment was being inflicted.

Nodding, Xatu closed his eyes and began to focus. He had always hated reaching for another while within the base, though he could not risk the contents of this meeting escaping this room. This would have to do. Picturing the Director's psychic signature, he prepared to push a message through to him.

"Sire, this is Xatu. Can you hear me?" he asked aloud. A powerful wave of psychic energy escaped his figure. A moment of silence passed as he waited, pondering if he was too far underground. As his frustration began to climb once more, a sudden ping caught his attention. An abstract emotion from the Director.

_Affirmative._

Xatu's eyes snapped open, the psychic connection now confirmed as open. The Director could not respond with words from such a distance, so simple emotion had been agreed upon. It was limited, but it worked.

"At last. You only choose now to respond, sire? I have been reaching for you for a week," Xatu demanded, much to the surprise of the other executives. Gengar chose this moment to sit back in his seat, not daring to look Xatu in the eyes as his usual grin turned upside down.

_Shame. Apology._

Xatu clicked his beak before continuing.

"Subject Blue has been found to survive as an Oshawott in Impetus Town. What are your orders, sir?" he asked. A moment passed before he received the next wave.

_Affirmative. Determination. Determination. Determination._

As the link abruptly closed, Xatu took a moment to consider what he had just heard. Three strikes of determination... he had been awaiting that coded order for twenty-five years. Twenty-five long years of hard work, struggle, and fruitless hope... finally about to pay off. The Phoenix League knew where the required elements were, and it would only take a matter of weeks to retrieve them if all went well. The issue would be getting the human... an issue that would be decided on later, he decided. The world would finally be made right again. Considering this, Xatu felt... was that a spark of joy he felt?

As the executives watched him, the Garchomp seated at the table adjusted her fins to lean forward.

"Well? What'd he say?" she asked. Xatu blinked before looking up to address the others, a smile visible at the corners of his beak as he echoed the message the Director had given him.

"Commence Operation Kindle," he said.

* * *

_'So, we meet again, bigass board.'_

With my arm healed at last, Rye and I had agreed to return to work today. Now standing before the imposing bulletin boards, I took a bit to look up at Rye climbing up along the wooden structure, pausing every so often to check one of the notices. It still seemed so surreal in retrospect, honestly: just being able to say "oh, yeah, I'm an Oshawott, my best friend's a talking Treecko, and he's climbing on the board right now looking for a summons to... uh, whatever mystery dungeons are" with a hundred percent honesty was just so absurd, and yet I never paused to think about it. I guess I'd just gone numb to the insanity by this point.

While I considered this, Rye tore a notice off of the board and tossed it down, snapping me out of my thought as I grabbed for the fluttering paper. Holding it in my paws, I could make out the rune for 'E' at the top of the page but nothing much more, though Rye quickly climbed down from above to provide translation.

"It's an E-tier through Scoria Cave, ten miles north of here. Uh, I figured it'd be a nice change of pace from Bassa Village," he said before reading over it some more. "It says it wants us to go in and find a Joy Seed they left on floor three. S-sounds easy enough..."

As he reached the bottom, his face fell.

"W-wait, what? Requested by Team Luster? Wh... why would a team need us to...? Uh, it wants us to meet them at the inn in town once we finish..."

Sighing, he folded the paper up to put in our bag, nervously muttering to himself as he checked the canteen in our bag to see if we had enough water for the trip. Reassured of this, he led me out of the Guild proper and towards Impetus Town.

"We'll need a light for this, we don't have anyone who knows Flash. Uh, Mr. Kecleon sells them, so we're heading there," he said. I nodded, following him as we weaved past a family of Raichu and Pichu. Before long, I found myself looking up at two Kecleons, one green and one purple, who looked down at Rye with friendly smiles.

"Why, good morning, Treecko! Wonderful day, wouldn't you say?" the green one asked. "Might we interest you in a green gummi? It's normally a thousand Poké, but we'll give it to you for eight hundred! What do you think?"

Rye paused to consider for a second before shaking his head.

"N-no thanks, sir, we just need a Luminous Orb, we're going to a cave dungeon," he replied. The purple Kecleon gave a hearty chuckle.

"Why, you've come to the right-"

He paused as his gaze fell on me. As his smile faltered a bit, he cleared his throat.

"Er, might I ask that Oshawott wait elsewhere? The park's just over there, if you wouldn't mind," he said nervously. We both gaped at the shopkeeper as he waited.

"...w-what?" Rye eventually demanded. "No, he isn't going to hurt anyone! He's-"

"We don't doubt that, but we would much rather not be seen with such a Pokémon on our premises. We apologize, but..." Kecleon said.

"No! J-just because he can't talk means you won't serve us? Th-that's Bouffalant crap!" Rye retorted. Kecleon's lips tightened, his purple scales darkening a bit.

"Treecko, please watch your tongue, and again, would you please send your partner elsewhere?" he requested, a hint of authority in his voice.

I let out a cry of protest and slapped my paw against the booth, leaving the Kecleons unfazed. As Rye started to add on to this, an indistinct complaint rang out from behind. Looking back, I found perhaps five Pokémon waiting in line impatiently for us to finish. Clenching my teeth, I sighed, realizing trying to drag this out was pointless. Making a quiet defeated cry, I raised my paws and backed out of line, much to Rye's horror.

"W-what? No, you can't-" he began.

"Nah, sh-shehh," I said as I shuffled away from the shop, where the Kecleons blinked after me, apparently a bit surprised at my willingness. They quickly got over this and returned to their usual cheerful gait to serve a disquieted Rye as I took a seat across the street and shot a quick glare at the staring Pokémon in line.

I stayed seated by that wall for a good few minutes before Rye came to help me up, a glassy blue orb in hand. He opened his mouth to say something, though the words seemed to catch in his throat.

"...w-we'll show them," he eventually said, his voice almost too quiet to hear. With that in mind, we started on the road north, dreading both the literal and metaphorical path ahead but still optimistic for the change in pace that lied in the waiting dungeon.

* * *

"Rye?"

The Treecko flinched as we stood there, facing the mouth of the cave. A three hours walk had led us here, and we had stopped for a minute to examine the entrance. Tucked in between two hills in the ever-hilly expanse that seemed to make up central Gray Proper, the small unassuming opening led into inky darkness despite the sun shining down on it. The usual warning sign loomed over us as I gave Rye a nudge, trying to reassure him it'd be alright, only to be met with a nervous groan.

"I-it's not the ferals in there, the sign says there aren't many, it's just... I-I don't like caves. Grass-types like me need sunlight, and, er, yeah," he explained, gesturing towards the dark cave. He hesitated for another minute before putting on an about face.

"Alright, let's go," he said. With that, we headed in, a wave of humid air hitting us as that familiar pang of gut-deep dread hit me once more.

* * *

**Scoria Cave**

**B1F**

"Activate," I heard Rye whisper through the darkness. A soft glow came from the orb in his hands, which quickly grew bright enough to illuminate the entire room.

"Alright, it didn't go off... whew," he sighed in relief, grasping the glowing orb tight as we started into the cave.

Compared to dungeons past, I noticed that this one seemed rather peaceful, only throwing a Roggenrola at us every now and then. Given our respective typings, we didn't have much trouble at all with the ferals here, leaving plenty of time to take in the surroundings. While yes, those long halls having ceilings now definitely made me claustrophobic, I couldn't help but be impressed by the small crystal formations and stalagmites hanging from the ceilings of the larger caves... or would those be stalactites? I guess I never learned the difference between those as a human.

On that note, I couldn't help but wonder about this place. I didn't remember very many details about what Unova was like, but I was decently sure there wasn't a cave system like this anywhere in this particular area. That begged the question of whether it had naturally formed in however long it had been or if this whole place had been somehow been artificially created. In either case, how exactly did it get this big this fast?

...maybe it was the mystery dungeon itself that did it?

Pushing back that mildly unsettling idea, I followed Rye as he stumbled into a small cave, where a square hole in the floor waited for us, containing a set of rough stone stairs.

"Huh, alright. So far, so good," he observed as we started down.

* * *

**Scoria Cave**

**B2F**

"Hey, you wanna hold the orb? I'm starting to feel a bit sick and I don't wanna drop this," Rye requested. I cocked my head.

"Wha? R... er, why?" I asked.

"Well... l-like I said at the entrance, I don't do well out of sunlight, and, uh, if I drop this while it's still glowing, then it'll sorta... er, explode and kill us," he said, giving a quick shudder.

Deciding that was a fair point, I quickly took the orb into my paws, gulping nervously as I held it tight. Now free of the apparent explosive, Rye walked in silence for a minute as we cautiously progressed into an adjacent hallway. As we entered a spacious cavern and paused to listen for any noises, he let out a quiet cough.

"Hey, uh, can I ask you something? Y'know, about... uh, humans?" he asked.

"Yeah, wha?" I replied, making sure to keep our light held safely. I was only met with silence as Rye thought for a bit.

"...uh, I... sorry, it's just... you know, there's so much I wanna ask, and now we've got nothing better to do, but..."

He sighed.

"I don't know, I guess it's just I'm not sure what's a stupid question or not. Like, I don't want to ask if humans actually did build a golden city under Vale Keep to wait out the Ruin or if they actually did visit the moon in giant flaming towers and plant a flower, you know?" he reasoned. I blinked.

_'Visit the moon in giant flaming towers? Well... now that I think about it, I do remember the concept...'_

I gave a small humored smile, which Rye apparently saw as he paled.

"W-wait, you... those are actually true?" he sputtered.

"Ehh..." I said, gesturing to indicate it was, at least partially.

"Wh-which one? Th-the golden city or the moon thing?" he asked urgently.

"Yeah, m-mehn," I clarified. Rye immediately launched into a barrage of questions about this.

"H-how'd they do it? Did the towers have, like, Fire-types inside shooting fire? Were they some kind of giant machine running on that gas stuff? How'd the humans breathe, is there air up there? Did they have to worry about accidentally running into the sky? How did a flower survive on-"

"R-Rye," I butted in, shaking my head to say I didn't know. The Treecko seemed disappointed, though he still considered my words with wonder as we continued.

"Wow... and here I thought Dill was crazy for believing in this stuff..." he mused. He didn't have very long to think it over, as a Diglett suddenly burst from the floor before us. Hammering it back in with a series of Pounds, he gestured me on. As we left the Diglett wedged into the floor, a thought seemed to occur to Rye.

"Hey, if you can remember that, then... were you around when the Ruin happened?" he asked.

"Uh..." I started, scouring my memory. As per usual, nothing was concrete and the best I could muster was foggy ideas and concepts. Given that I knew next to nothing about this Ruin, I wasn't quite sure I could draw much from those.

I shrugged.

"Huh... do you at least know what happened?" Rye asked. I shook my head, earning another look of disappointment from Rye.

"Hm... no one knows for sure. I was hoping you'd-" he started.

He was cut off as we stopped short of a staircase. The orb nearly slipped out of my paws, causing me to panic for a bit as Rye hopped down without hesitation.

"The seed they want should be on this floor! Let's hurry, I really don't wanna spend much longer here!" he yelled from the stairs.

* * *

**Scoria Cave**

**B3F**

I suppose I learned a good few things on this little trip. You know, Luminous Orbs are basically grenades, my memory was still an unreliable piece of crap, moonmen, the sort. On this floor, though, three things stood out.

Firstly, when Rye wanted to leave a place, he committed to leaving as quickly as possible.

"Come on, come on. Please be in here... aghh!" he growled as we headed into yet another dull cave. He quickly dropped to all fours and trotted towards the hallway at the other end of the cave, stopping to wait as I hurriedly waddled after him with the light in my paws.

The thing about item retrieval missions was that you had to scour the specified floor for the item in question, and while that was all fine and good normally, Rye didn't like that it applied down here one bit. Looking at him in the light, I noted that the tips of his tail were beginning to take on a faint yellow tint from an hour without sunlight, so I couldn't blame the Treecko for his ever-sluggish gait. As he panted in the stale cave air, I focused the light into the next room, only for my eyes to light up.

"Rye, sha!" I called. In the corner of the room sat a typical-looking seed, which we quickly flocked to. As Rye gingerly bent down to examine it, a faint sound came from the adjacent hallway: a quiet chittering, followed by rhythmic clicks.

_'...oh, sweet Zekrom.'_

My paws shaking, I pointed the light up towards the hall, finding an indistinct blue and purple shape hanging from the ceiling. Rye staggered back as my breathing grew fast and shaky, flashbacks to Quinite Woods coursing through my head as the shape and I stared each other down. A minute passed where I dared not move a muscle, though that didn't stop the thing's wings from twitching before a loud, horrible screech pierced my ears.

The second lesson I learned: be wary in caves. Zubats hear all and see all.

Panic overtook me as the Zubat flew towards us, saliva dripping from its mouth as it kept screeching its lungs out. As I stumbled back, instinct took over and did the only thing it could think of at the moment.

I threw the Luminous Orb at the Zubat as hard as I could.

Upon hitting the floor, the orb briefly cracked before it violently exploded in a blinding flash of light. Rye tackled me down as a billowing cloud of dust hit us and a deafening crash rang out as the ceiling above the orb apparently gave way, hopefully crushing the Zubat underneath. I winced as a shard of broken orb struck me in the back, a cascade of clinks signifying the rest of them hitting the walls. We stayed huddled on the floor for a minute until the cave-in stopped, only for our coughs to replace it.

"Beck? I... I can't see..." Rye croaked. Hacking dirt out of my mouth and reaching for my new wound, I opened my eyes, only to be met with pitch darkness. Listening for Rye's coughs, I felt around until my paw met his scaly hide, though he immediately lurched back and just barely missed me with a Pound.

"Agh! Rye!" I yelled.

"Sorry!" he replied as the faint glow of his tail subsided.

_'Wait. Faint glow?'_

Alright, I could use this... what would produce the most light in this situation... ah!

"Rye, lehr!" I ordered, thrusting my arm out like so many trainers before. Of course, Rye didn't see this, though it still felt damn cool.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Leer!" I repeated.

"Y-you want me to Leer?"

"Yeah!"

"I, uh... oh, I see..."

A red glow began to shine from Rye's eyes, allowing me to see a dim view of our surroundings. It didn't provide much in terms of light, but it was definitely better than nothing. With this faint illumination, I finally got a good look at the damage I had caused. At least half of the room had fallen in, though thankfully it seemed the seed had made it through, albeit dirtied. Brushing it off, Rye peered at it with his dimly glowing eyes.

"...hah, th-this is a Joy Seed! We found it, let's-" he began.

A faint noise not unlike stone scraping against stone in the distance interrupted, causing Rye's Leer-light to go out as he gasped in abject horror.

"...nonono... th-the dungeon!" he choked out.

Lesson three: mystery dungeons apparently don't take too kindly to being blown up.

As the scraping grew louder, Rye hurriedly conjured up another Leer and tore open our bag, frantically digging for our badges. By the time Rye shoved a badge into my paws, holding out the seed, I could make out the walls beginning to shift, bursting in clouds of dust and beginning to visibly move as the scraping became a roar. I didn't hesitate to tap my badge to the seed, clenching my eyes shut as the bright light of teleportation enveloped me, lifting my feet off the ground as it took me out of the rapidly shifting dungeon.

* * *

I was thrown onto the ground as the light around me vanished. I squinted my eyes open just in time to see the sudden flash of light that announced Rye's joining me on the grass, panting as he turned onto his back to face the sun. I dared not move for a minute, my still-stinging eyes and the orb shard in my back protesting as I relished in sweet fresh air. After a while, Rye sat up, wincing as his fingers ran along his own orb wounds.

"Y-you didn't need to do that, Beck," he groaned through gritted teeth. I didn't reply, choosing instead to stare at the sky above.

_'The thing was coming straight at me, you can't say that wasn't justified...'_

Clenching his teeth, Rye sighed after a minute.

"Beck? Uh, th-thanks," he added on. "If you hadn't come up with that Leer thing... w-well..."

I looked to him and gave a little smile as he pushed himself off the ground, already rejuvenated by the sunlight.

"Wha frens deh, yeah?" I tried. Rye grinned and nodded as he rubbed the blood off his wound, choosing not to pull the shard out as he waited for me to get up.

"Heh, and here we thought we were gonna get an easy dive for once, huh?" he mused as I hoisted myself up.

Huh, yeah. Funny how that turned out.


	28. Visions

"Alright, just hold still, this'll hurt," Rye warned.

"Rye, neh," I pleaded one last time. I couldn't add to this, as my pleas came out as yelps of pain as Rye started pulling the shard of orb out of my back. We had decided we could go without patching ourselves up, though quickly found that was optimistic at best. Thankfully, we had found an Oran tree along the road, and less so, Rye had determined that now that we had something to help heal, it was a good time to get the orb-stuff out of ourselves. As I had learned back at Amber Meadow, Rye couldn't exactly be trusted with healing, though with two and a half hours to go, I didn't have much choice in the matter.

_'Still, though, does he have to wiggle- agh! Like that...!'_

With a final loud noise of protest from me, Rye held up a glassy blue shard, his fingers covered in my blood as he held a juice-soaked cloth against the wound. As I winced from the juice doing its work, Rye gritted his teeth.

"Ugh, alright. My turn, I guess," he said. Handing me a clean cloth as he lied down on his belly, he gave me a last pleading look.

"Please never make an orb go off again," he requested. I gave him a quick look as I examined the damage: three blue shards embedded between his scales where he had been hit by the orb's detonation. Guilt coursed through me as I recalled that Rye had seemingly taken the brunt of the blast, receiving most of the fragments in the process. I couldn't tear my eyes away with the thought that Rye was right, that this was my fault, that I had been a damn coward and nearly gotten us killed.

"...Rye, am... am sahry," I eventually said. Rye looked up at me.

"Hm?" he asked. Hanging my head in shame, I pointed at his wounds.

"Oh, i-it's okay, just don't do it again," he said, giving a reassuring nod. Though this didn't help ease my woes very much, I swallowed them back for the time being and took a quick look at the cloth in my paws, realizing my nubs for fingers weren't optimal for this kind of work. I briefly considered trying to pick them out with my scalchop before biting my lip.

"Sahry," I said in advance before getting a shard between my paws and starting to tug.

"Ow- aagh! Beck, stop pulling it so h- ah!" Rye protested. As his protests became more and more colorful, I decidedly turned my frustration back towards Impetus Town. I didn't know who this Team Whatstheirname was, but regardless of if all this was my fault, they had a bit of explaining to do.

* * *

No one stopped to gawk at us as we headed back into Impetus Town. Explorers getting hurt on the job was a common sight, it seemed, and a couple novices like us weren't really cause for alarm. Apart from the occasional odd look from the village kids at the blood we hadn't washed off, we didn't really draw much attention as Rye asked around for directions to the town's inn.

As we started away from the town square, I couldn't help but notice the gradual change in architecture. Buildings gradually shifted from small log cabins to proper wood-and-stone structures and homes became larger as we headed further from the square. When I pointed this out to Rye with a questioning gesture, he gave a little shrug.

"Uh, the town started as a frontier outpost. I guess as the wanderers moved on and more Pokémon decided to stay, they started making their houses more like that? I dunno, I don't really know that kind of stuff," he said.

Soon enough, we found ourselves in front of a large building just at the edge of the town. Indistinct conversation, a sickly sweet smell, and a single staggering Pokémon came from through the doors as we hesitated, unsure if this was a good idea. Soon enough, I swallowed back my nervousness and headed into the inn, clutching Rye's hand as to not lose him.

The first thing I noticed was that unlike what I had expected from my first impression, there were mostly explorers like us in the building. All around us, Pokémon sat at round tables, drinks in paws and laughing heartily as they conversed, the few drunk-looking odd-mons off to the side reeking of that sweet smell. Swallowing, I picked out one of the Pokémon from the nearby bar and tapped its back.

"Sehr?" I asked. The Meowth looked back to me, then scrambled up onto the bar in alarm.

"Son of a... uhm, Mr. Ludicolo! Another feral got in!" he yelled before Rye pushed me aside and raised his hands.

"Nonono, h-he's with me! We're just looking for Team Luster," he hurriedly explained.

The Meowth confusedly stared at the two of us for a minute before slowly nodding and pointing to a nearby table. Sighing in relief, Rye dragged me over to meet the three Pokémon seated there. Apparently engaged in some kind of drinking contest, they watched as a Raboot seated there released a loud hacking cough, white-hot embers escaping his lips. Sighing as he regained his composure, he set down the bottle he was holding, inciting a loud cheer from the others seated. Only then did the Zangoose apparently challenging him seem to notice us, leaning down to face Rye.

"Wh-whaddaya want?" he slurred, his breath smelling somewhere between Pecha and poison.

"Uh... w-we're here about the job?" Rye squeaked, inching back as to not provoke him. Zangoose stared at us for a minute before letting out a loud chuckle, looking up to his teammates.

"It's okeh, fellas, they've got the seed... thing," he said groggily. In response, the Raboot stood and hobbled over to examine us. After a minute, his eyes flashed with recognition.

"Hey, aren'tcha the... the team from the news board? W-with the feral?" he asked. Clenching my teeth in shame, I joined Rye in nodding. Raboot eyed me nervously as he swayed in place.

"It isn't gon bite, is it?" he asked. Rye shook his head, prompting Raboot to slowly reach a paw out and begin lightly rubbing the top of my head, much to my initial bewilderment. After a bit of wary watching, the rubbing became thorough scratching behind my ears as I tried to shrink back.

"Well, hiya, lil' guy," he said, his drunken voice raised an octave. I tried to swat him away, letting out an uncomfortable whine.

"Wha? Er, am I-" he asked confusedly.

"Hey, come on, d-didn't you hear 'bout the thing with the banjo last night? It's not stupid, don't pet it, dick," Zangoose interrupted between hiccups. Thankfully, that was enough to get Raboot to quit, allowing a seated Nidorino to clear his throat.

"Er, sorry 'bout him. So, uh, yeah, we're Team Luster. You got the seed, right?" he asked. Rye gave a quick nod and dug the Joy Seed out of our filthy bag, dropping it into Nidorino's paws with a hint of spite. Flipping it in his paws a few times, Nidorino nodded and gestured to Raboot, who dug a small sack out of their bag.

"Aighty, here you go. A thousand Poké," he said, handing the sack to Rye. The Treecko just stared in response.

"That's only two hundred for us..." he observed. The three Pokémon gave him a bemused glance.

"Yeah, I mean, Scoria Cave's basically hatchling's first cave dungeon, easy jobs pay less," Nidorino said.

"Well, why didn't you go in yourself?" Rye demanded. Nidorino narrowed his eyes.

"Look, kid, we're on a schedule, we aren't about to put actual missions on hold going to waste an hour in rookie territory just to grab a seed like Quilava and friends," he rebutted, his drunken partners giving noises of agreement. With a cry of protest, I turned to show my wound from the orb. Nidorino's expression became quizzical.

"Hold up, none of the ferals there could do that, what-" Nidorino started.

"The dungeon nearly took us," Rye interrupted. The three only grew more confused.

"Huh? T-that was an E-level job, how'd Scoria Cave of all dungeons nearly get you?" Nidorino asked. Rye paused for a second.

"We, uh... threw our light at a feral and blew it up," he admitted. As Team Luster quickly erupted into questions and reprimands, my guilt mounted as Rye shifted in place. Before long, I quickly raised a paw.

"Was meh," I said, clenching my teeth. I was met with a brief moment of silence from the three, tolerating their stunned stares until Zangoose butted in.

"You hear that, Raboot? It can talk, told ya he ain't dumb!" he declared before turning his attention to Rye. "Er, w-why'd ya teach him that? Was, uh, your pops in the war?" he asked.

"Er, no. I didn't tell him to do it, he just-" Rye started. He jumped back as Zangoose suddenly let out a loud wheezing laugh, pointing his razor-sharp claws towards me.

"Remind me not to mess with this 'mon, yeah? I mean, wow, t-took a few years in the trenches for normal Pokémon to figure that trick out, and here w-"

He stopped as he winced, putting a paw to his groin. Pushing Raboot aside, he hurriedly waddled to the entrance as we watched in concern. Nidorino waved a paw dismissively.

"He had a few too many Pecha ciders," he said. "Anyways, I guess that's everything. Er, you know, thanks for the job, don't blow up orbs in the future, et cetera. We'll be keeping a look out for you, Team...?"

"Er, Reach," Rye said. Nidorino flashed a toothy smile.

"Well, then, Team Reach. Thanks again," he said. Still looking a bit bummed out, Rye tucked the small sack of coins into our bag as I waved, quickly following my friend out of the stuffy inn. As I paused for a moment to let the mild headache I had gotten subside, Zangoose pushed past us, looking quite refreshed as he headed back inside. Shuddering, I ran to catch up as we started back to the Guild, watching the ground to make sure I wasn't about to step in Zangoose's... you know, fluids.

...yeah, I forgot to mention that. See, bathrooms apparently weren't a thing here. It was apparently just normal for Pokémon to just find a wall or something outside and... yeah. Sure, I guess Pokémon didn't think the same way as humans, but... eugh.

_'Might have to see if I can do anything about that in the future.'_

Upon reaching Cinccino's kiosk, Rye pushed her the job's notice and a hefty portion of the coins we'd been given. After a quick exchange, he joined me past the gate, a grin on his face.

"Well, that's it, our first... n-normal job... that we uh, finished normally!" he piped. The Treecko's enthusiasm was infectious, and I quickly found myself joining in his celebration. As he held up a hand to say something, I instinctively slapped his palm in a high-five. He stumbled back, his face becoming one of alarm and confusion before something clicked.

"Uh, human thing?" he asked. Embarrassed, I nodded. Rye's grin returned to his face as he cleared his throat.

"Anyways, uh, it's still about mid-afternoon, you reckon we should take another job?" he asked. I involuntarily grimaced.

"Wha?" I yelped disbelievingly, only for Rye to laugh quietly.

"I-I'm kidding, don't worry. Let's head back and crash until dinner," he suggested. Finding this agreeable, I gave a cry, so we started back to our quarters to finally catch a break from the day's cave-ins and wine stench.

* * *

…

_Wait, what? Where am I? Is this another dream?_

"...executive, how... operation...?"

I jumped as an unfamiliar voice came from below me. Looking down, I noted two things: for one, my body appeared to be missing, and two, a pair of figures stood talking below me. At least, I could tell they were talking. All I could make out were a few mumbles with words occasionally seeping through and the image seemed dark and fuzzy to me, the figures appearing gray blurs that occasionally flickered in and out of existence. Curious as to this new dream, I leaned in.

"Located... temple... Sun Continent," one of the figures droned. I paused.

_That voice, I know it... hello? Who are you?_

The figure didn't seem to notice me as it continued its indiscernible talking. As I tried to examine my surroundings, I felt a surge of energy course around me. With this, everything seemed to clear up a bit, allowing me to see the figures a little more clearly. Glancing at them, I could make them out as an Archeops and a... a Xatu?

_Wait, is this...?_

"Executive Archeops, your cooperation is imperative. You are the executive whom I most trust to leave with my duties," Xatu said.

Okay, yeah, that voice didn't lie. This was the same one I'd met back in Arid Riverbed, it seemed. Not sure of what to make of this, I kept watching as the Archeops before me sighed.

"Look, I'm aware want to get this in motion, but it hasn't even been twelve hours since the operation was ordered, you can't just go to the Sun Continent now. Take some time to plan out the strike, let our mons there find the right mercenaries for the job," he said. Tension began to grip the air around me as Xatu stared Archeops down.

"I assure you, it is for the best. Have you forgotten what happened last time we chose to idle about?" he asked.

"No, no. Just... for the good of the League, please be patient. You know what the Director said, right? Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment," Archeops said, his voice shaky as he warily watched Xatu. "Y-you know what happened last time you said you let them take over."

Xatu kept staring for a minute. As the tension suddenly passed, he hung his head.

"I will never forget," he said coldly.

A sympathetic-looking Archeops tried to put his wing on Xatu's side, but it quickly froze in place as what seemed like psychic power gripped it. While Archeops yelped and struggled to pull his wing free, Xatu looked back up at him.

"Fine, then. I shall wait another few days, I suppose. The orb will not be going anywhere," he said, tossing Archeops' wing aside and sending him stumbling back. Before he could say anything more, he froze in place. Without skipping a beat, he slowly turned his head until he was looking directly into me.

A pang of terror shot through me as he stared through me impassively. Narrowing his eyes, he jerked his head to the side. Everything around me immediately shattered, for lack of a better term, as I was violently thrown back. Screaming, I began trying to grab something, anything that could save me as I uncontrollably spiraled through the abyss...

"Shaah!" I yelled, jumping out of my bed and waking Rye up as I hit the earthen floor. The room around me was dark as could be, giving away that it was still night out. Taking a moment to catch my breath as I laid on the floor, I looked down just to make sure this wasn't still a dream. Sure enough, my familiar furry body was there to greet me rather than empty space.

_'Alright, I'm awake, but... sweet Darkrai, what was that?'_

I'd never had any sort of dream like that before, and frankly, I was more afraid of what might have caused it than the dream itself. Had something hit my head during that cave-in? Had the dungeon messed with my head somehow? Had the fumes in the inn gotten to me? Was this the Voice again trying to tell me something? If so, what did Xatu have to do with my being here? And just what were they talking about? Operation? Mercenaries? Orb? Never forgetting? What even...?

"Beck, are you okay?"

Flinching, I rolled over to find Rye standing over me looking particularly concerned at my spooked state. I nodded, still trembling slightly as he knelt down to face me.

"It's okay, i-it was just a bad dream," he tried to reassure me. As I sat up, I opened my mouth to try and explain myself, though the series of cries I produced didn't do a very good job at that. I sulked for a bit before an idea came to mind and I got to my feet. As Rye looked on, I took the notebook out of our bag and started trying to draw my dream. Crudely sketching the two Pokémon I had seen, I watched as Rye came over and glanced at the paper.

"A Xatu? Uh, w-we met one at Bassa Town, right?" he asked. I didn't answer as I kept adding to the sketch, filling in the blanks I couldn't quite visualize with Unown-script and elaborate little pictures trying to spell them out. Predictably, these didn't quite seem to get across to Rye.

"Uh, I can't... Beck, I can't understand what this means," he said, stopping me as he squinted at my hieroglyphics, looking just as confused as I was. We both sat there considering for a minute as the quiet lull of the night backed our thoughts.

"Y-you worried it could be a vision?" Rye eventually asked. I hesitated for a minute.

"Yeah," I said. Another moment of silence hung in the air.

"I... I think we should stop by the library. Uh, maybe we could find out what it meant?" Rye suggested.

"Huh? Lah-beh...?" I asked. From what I had heard, I could assume Impetus Town was on the small side when compared with the other settlements scattered around this continent; I wouldn't have guessed it'd have a library.

"Er, yeah, just down Field Road. I-I can read for you if you want, though we can always stop by Mr. Alakazam if-" he said.

"Y-yeah, lah-beh," I butted in. With that decided, Rye got to his feet, only to come face-to-face with the moon peeking through the window. Biting his lip, he shuffled back to his bed.

"We'll go in the morning. Uh, tell me if you have any more weird dreams, alright?" he requested.

"Yeah. Uh, g'nah," I said. With his own "good night," Rye curled up in bed, leaving me to stare at the backs of my eyelids. I really didn't want to see if this last dream was going to be the start of a pattern, so even though my body had gotten over the adrenaline rush my sudden awakening had caused and now begged to go back to sleep, I steadfastly refused, deciding that I'd stay up till morning if it meant no more of whatever that dream had been.

I lasted maybe ten minutes before I was out like a light again.

* * *

"Flame-resistant my ass," Arden muttered.

May cracked a small smile as the two stood over the charred remains of the Quilava's hammock, the quip being a welcome change from the last ten minutes. She had woken up to find Arden on the floor, flames erupting from his back and his hammock, and everything since then had been a blur of panic for the Leafeon. As with the rest of the Pokémon in Team Apex's base, the last thing she wanted was for the base to go up in flames again, though the relatively small fire had been dealt with quickly. Upon reassuring Pike and the concerned apprentices that everything was under control, they had chosen to stay up a little longer to assess the damage. Now with a moment to think straight, May looked to Arden.

"You need to go see Alakazam, this-" she began.

"It's not the nightmare. This... it was different," Arden said. "I don't know, it was like I was watching in on someone and..."

May cocked her head.

"Watching in...?" she pondered. Briefly entertaining the idea that this could have been a vision, she gave a nod.

"I'll take your word for it, I'm gonna go back to bed. You can sleep by me if you want," she said. Arden sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he brushed the ruined hammock to the side. The Kecleons weren't too reliable when it came to specialty items, he'd have to look around for a new one that actually worked as advertised.

_'Damn shame, that thing was comfy.'_

Tearing his attention from the pile of smoking remains, Arden laid down next to May, getting as much of his body on her Wooloo-wool cushion as possible. May shot him an amused glare, snuggling up against his body to get as much of the warmth radiating from it as possible. Before long, she fell asleep, leaving Arden alone to ponder what he had seen.

_'Alrighty. Who was that in the dream? What were they on about? Why the fuck was I shown all this?_

…

_I don't want any part in this. If you're listening, we've suffered enough. If any of my friends, or Arceus forbid, May gets hurt in this, then... we've beaten the shit out of a Legend before. We can do it again, you bastards.'_

That cold thought was the last that coursed through the Quilava's mind before he drifted off, the only sign that anything had gone awry being the smell of singed rope lingering in the air.


	29. Knowledge is Power

"Little Pidove, sing this song! Doo-dah, doo-dah..."

As Rye led me along the dirt streets of Impetus Town, that faint song rang out from a flock of Tranquill flying above us. I arched my head to watch them fly by as we headed along the now-familiar town square, which was bustling and lively as usual. As Rye had suggested during my early awakening, we had decided to put work aside for the moment and were now heading to the town library, which Rye claimed was the biggest for a hundred miles around. I still wasn't entirely sure what such a big library was doing in a town like this, but I'd decided I'd take it.

The problem was I wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to be finding.

What was I supposed to be looking for? Just visions seemed too vague, and invading Pokémon's privacy through means of dreaming seemed too specific. Besides, there was a slight issue in that I still couldn't read worth shit. I mean, Rye had volunteered to read for me, but still.

While considering the possibility of audiobooks still existing, I bumped into Rye as he stopped short, gazing at a building off to the side of the road. Pointing to it, he gave a small nod.

"There it is: Impetus Town Public Libary," he announced. I bit back a chuckle.

"L-leh-bahri?" I asked, giving a humored smirk. Rye gave me a confused sideways glance.

"Er, yeah, the liba-"

He froze up as his sentence became a guttural croak.

"L-library, I meant library!" he exclaimed, holding his hands up as he turned to face me. I gave him a playful nudge before he sighed.

"Y-you're rubbing off on me, I guess. Y'know, since that's how you pronounce... uh, give us another couple weeks and I'll be going around yelling 'treh treh' in everymon's faces, huh?" he said before freezing up. "S-sorry, that was...".

Coughing quietly, he continued towards the library as I took a minute to soak it in.

By human standards, it was pretty unimpressive, mostly coming across as a larger version of the other buildings in town, though there were elements of grandeur to it. Large pillars held up the facade in imitation of classical architecture, and the windows on the building were plated with glass, something I had surprisingly not come across in my time here. Walking in, I noticed Rye and what looked to be the librarian arguing at the front desk.

"Please? I promise I'll keep an eye on him!" Rye requested.

"Hah, you humor me. Why even ask? A library is the last place any civilized Pokémon would want a feral," the Lampent behind the desk demanded emotionlessly.

"Urgh... i-isn't there anything I can do that'll allow him in?" Rye asked. The Lampent's flame shrank slightly as she considered. A few seconds passed before it returned to normal.

"Keep it on a leash and don't let it touch anything," she said. I stumbled back.

"Wha?!" I demanded.

"You may send it outside if that's not to your liking," Lampent said, her voice still flat. Rye gritted his teeth before nodding.

"Good. If I see that it is loose, you'll both be expelled from the premises. Understand?" Lampent asked.

"Y-yes, ma'am," Rye managed out, sending me a pleading look before I could protest. Faced with no other options, I sulked as Rye reluctantly pulled a length of rope out of our bag.

_'And here I thought getting spoonfed would be the worst hit to my dignity here...'_

* * *

"Alright, uh, this looks promising," Rye mused as he walked up with a small leatherbound book. Fidgeting with the uncomfortable rope around my neck, I leaned in to see as Rye opened it to a random page. We'd been at this for maybe an hour at this point, and despite the stacks of discarded books and scrolls around us, we hadn't been able to find anything of note. I was getting tired of this, but surely Rye knew what he was doing. If not, then...

"Okay, it says something about a Gardevoir, maybe... uh, floating in the dreamscape, Gardevoir gave him a long, gentle stroke along his... oh... augh, s-sweet Zygarde!"

Rye hurriedly slammed the book shut and put it on the floor.

"D-definitely not..." he said, violently shivering as he got to his feet and walked back into the shelves to find another book. I barely contained a groan as I rubbed at my leash again. I wanted to get up and try to find something on my own that wasn't either useless or... that, but as per the agreement with the librarian, Rye had tied the leash to one of the shelves. I couldn't untie it, no thanks to my paws, and chances were nothing was going to suddenly break and free me. If only I had something to cut this with...

My paw suddenly met my scalchop. My face fell.

_'...well, I'm an idiot.'_

* * *

"Wasn't able to find anything on dreams, but I found this neat book on Water-types," Rye said as he rounded a corner, a book in hand. "It's got a few pages on Oshawotts, thought you might-"

He froze up as he came to where the two were studying. Rather than Beck waiting for him, a cut rope sat limp on the floor.

"...Grimer slime!" he swore to himself, dropping the book and hurriedly tiptoeing past the rope as he desperately listened for wherever Beck might be. The last thing he wanted from this trip was to anger the librarian, and if she found out that Beck had run off on him...

As he stuck his head down one of the aisles, he felt a cold presence suddenly appear behind him.

"Are you looking for something, Treecko?"

Flinching, Rye spun around to find Lampent behind him, her arm wrapped around a bundle of scrolls as she gave a suspicious glance. Rye gulped and shook his head, though Lampent's gaze didn't break.

"Where is your Oshawott?" she questioned.

"Uh, back at... o-over where we were studying. S-still tied up, ma'am," he croaked. Lampent watched him for another minute before giving a hum and floating towards a shelf, phasing through it and leaving Rye to give a shaky sigh of relief. He was alright for now, but still...

_'Don't Lampent, like, eat your soul and use it to fuel their fire?'_

With that intrusive thought now weighing on him, Rye let out a quiet groan as he continued on.

"Agh... Beck, where are you..."

* * *

I paused for what must have been the tenth time, sticking my ears up to listen for the librarian. Hearing nothing that might have meant her approaching, I continued tiptoeing along. Each time I paused, a bit of doubt coursed through my head, questioning just why I had decided to go through with this. Even if I did find a useful book, I wouldn't be able to read it... ugh. I honestly don't know what I was thinking back there.

It was too late now, I reckoned. Had to find something now that I was here.

Running a paw along the rough wood shelves, I squinted at the still-unfamiliar symbols the books inside them showed. Only recognizing a few letters from my lessons with Rye, I let out a quiet groan, cursing my own recklessness for this.

_'...this was stupid. I'm gonna head back.'_

I looked over my shoulder to check if anyone was watching, then turned to head back to where I had started. Unfortunately, I apparently learned nothing from Arid Riverbed about navigating mazes, seeing as I found myself lost within only a couple of turns.

...yeah, I know, I can't really compare things to mystery dungeons willy-nilly, but this library felt like it was designed by whatever made the things. To dungeons' credit, though, they at least had landmarks; the only one I could think of here was whatever Dewey decimal system they had here, and I wasn't about to have any luck with that. Facing what must have been the fifth split in the aisles, I couldn't help but wonder just how I had gotten lost in here. I mean, the place wasn't even that big...

No, no, I couldn't think about that just yet. Unless this place really was a mystery dungeon, I'd have to find Rye eventually, right? Maybe if I took a left? Hoping my gut wouldn't fail me here, I peeked around the corner, only to find myself staring into the lobby and... oh.

Right into Guildmaster Arcanine's eyes.

_'Sweet fuck.'_

As the color under my face's fur drained, the Guildmaster set down a large bag around his shoulder as he gave me a warm smile.

"Ah, Oshawott! Pleasure seeing you here," he said, approaching me as I cowered in place. "I did not take you for the reading type, are you... what is the matter? I won't bite, you know."

Popping open an eye, I looked up to meet Arcanine's gaze. Seeing no indication that he was about to lash out, I inched out of my flimsy hiding spot, earning a satisfied smile from him.

"Say, where is Treecko?" he asked.

"Uh... d-dah nah," I managed. His eyes briefly widening with surprise at my speaking, he nodded.

"It may take some time, but he will find his way here. Lampent are Ghost-types, they favor the chaotic layouts this library boasts. You may stay with me until he turns up," he said before his brow furrowed. "Thinking about it, Lampent never did allow ferals in here. What-"

A voice behind me let out a loud, angry screech, interrupting Arcanine. I jumped, spinning around to find Lampent looming behind me, her flame large with anger. Before I could do anything, she began to swat at me, pushing me back from the bookshelves as I cried out and tried to feebly defend myself.

"No! No! Get away! Get out or-" she yelled. Her pushing suddenly stopped as she seemed to notice Arcanine, who watched the scene with ill-hidden horror. She shrank back and gave a quick bow.

"Oh, G-Guildmaster. I wasn't expecting you to personally show up," she said quietly. Arcanine grimaced.

"Leave the Oshawott be," he commanded. Lampent's flame shrunk a bit.

"I... what? You know I can't do that, if it damages anything, then-"

"Need I remind you how much of this library's collection is from my own? What is damaged, I can and shall replace," Arcanine said. As I watched, Lampent sputtered to form a response.

"But... I... i-it's feral, I can't let it-"

"Feral or not, he is one of my own, and I expect respect towards him. Yes?" Arcanine demanded, sending a steely glare towards the Ghost-type. With a quiet eep, Lampent hurriedly nodded, and with a last spiteful look towards me, she picked up the large bag Arcanine had been carrying and phased through a nearby wall. Pushing myself off the floor, I gave the Guildmaster a bewildered look, uncertain as to why he had stood up for me like that. Seeing this, he gave a quiet sigh.

"Some Pokémon... I understand your woes, young... Beck, was it? Being a shiny in centuries past was not a pleasant experience, I can tell you," he mused before raising his head to sniff the air. "Ah, that must be Treecko now."

Sure enough, footsteps sounded from one of the aisles, which soon revealed themselves to belong to Rye as he hurried out then screeched to a halt as he caught sight of Arcanine and I.

"M-Mr. Arcanine?! Y-you...? Wh-what're you doing here?" he stammered.

"I was stopping by for my usual contribution to this library. Normally, I would have gotten Cinccino to do it, though I supposed I needed some fresh air. And you?" Arcanine inquired, taking a seat. Rye hesitated, looking to me for advice. Now getting over the shock of the moment, I stopped to consider. I wasn't about to spout why we were here, was I? I mean, most of the Pokémon I'd met really didn't fancy me, so if I were to tell them "oh, I'm decently sure I had some kind of vision in my sleep because I'm actually a human," I'd never be able to show my face again, I don't think.

...then again, Arcanine seemed like a nice guy. He didn't have to stand up for me, but here he was treating me as equal. That was something I'd learned to not take for granted these days. Besides, he was a centuries-old Guildmaster, right? Maybe he could give us some info?

After a bit, I gave a nod. Rye clenched his teeth.

"W-what do you want me to tell him, though?" he asked. I reached up towards my head, prompting Rye to gukp hard and turn back to the waiting Guildmaster.

"Uh... B-Beck had a weird dream last night and we wanted to see if it meant anything," he said. Arcanine leaned in, clearly intrigued.

"What sort of dream?" he asked.

"I-I couldn't really get anything from his dra- e-explanation, but he saw a Pokémon we met about a week ago, a-a Xatu," Rye explained.

"A... Xatu?" Arcanine asked, his brow furrowing.

"Y-you know him? ...er, sir?" Rye asked. Arcanine paused for a minute.

"...I have met many Xatu in my lifetime. I cannot say I know for certain," he said, taking a moment to contemplate. "I do believe that if what I fear is true, then Beck here may have received a vision."

"Er... w-we know that, sir, but we wanted to know why it..." Rye squeaked. Arcanine hummed.

"In times of distress, it is not uncommon for some powerful force to send out a vision to an unassuming Pokémon. It could be if the sender is endangered, anticipating some coming event, or wishing the recipient to do their bidding. It is most often Legends that resort to this, so the Pokémon they choose to send these to are rather few in numbers. Most often, it is one they have met and found worthy, those in possession of some corresponding artifact..."

He paused to give a knowing smile.

"...or somebody they have summoned for some important task," he finished. I instinctively took a couple steps back as he continued.

"Of course, this is all mere folklore I have picked up over centuries. You should not trust such words, especially from an old dog such as I," he finished, getting to his paws as he started for the door. As we stared at him, he stopped to look at us over his shoulder.

"If you do wish to, however, I will be in my quarters. You are welcome to speak with me at any time," he said with a warm smile. "Continue with the good work, and if you experience any more of these dreams, do tell me. I expect great things from the both of you. Good day."

With that, he headed out into the street, where a small crowd of gawking passersby whispered among each other. It looked like Arcanine was right about not usually coming here if how they ogled at the Guildmaster was anything to go off of. Taking in what he had told me, I turned to ask Rye what we would do now that we had some kind of answer, only to find him still staring out the door.

"H-he... Mr. Arcanine said he..." he managed, his eyes wide as saucers. Deciding to give him a moment, I started considering what Arcanine had said. That really was a vision? A Legend had sent it? Had it made me like this? Could I get some answers if I had another vision? Did Arcanine really have my back here? Did he know I was human? What would that mean for my future?

"A-alright, uh, y-you wanna keep looking for books?" Rye asked, interrupting my thoughts. I shot him a look, prompting his shoulders to sag. "Oh, uh, okay, let's go back, I guess."

Heading out of the library into the dispersing crowd, I kept staring off thoughtfully, bumping into passing Pokémon as I absentmindedly followed Rye back towards the Guild. As I did so, two feelings made themselves quite apparent in my gut, feelings that would end up following me long after we tore a notice off the board and set out for the day's mission.

Mild confidence and powerful, persistent dread.

* * *

As the sun dipped down that evening, I found I still hadn't quite snapped out of it, even as sat waiting for Bert to finish with his training. A thankfully uneventful surveying mission in a tame dungeon hadn't done much to ease my worries, and it apparently showed. I had decided that I'd be able to fit in a training session with Bert tonight, though even with the thought of learning how to better use this body, I couldn't shake the air of terror that hung around me as I kept recounting what Guildmaster Arcanine had told me.

If there was a Legend actively sending me visions, then was I really here for a reason? I had managed to ease myself with the idea that my being here was some sort of mistake, but now that this was a factor, that notion was starting to become flimsy. It looked like I wasn't entirely subtle about it, either, as when Bert's sparring partner left and I hopped off the Water-type arena's side, he shot me a quizzical look.

"You alright, kid?" he asked.

"Huh? Er, yeah," I lied. Bert cocked his head.

"If you wanna talk about it, you know, don't worry about it. I don't have anywhere else useful to be," he said. I gave a simple nod in response. Thankfully, after a minute of silence he decided to leave it at that, putting on his best instructor face as he faced me.

"Alright, I've noticed a good improvement right off the bat here: you bothered to show up tonight," he said. I gritted my teeth and looked away shamefully, prompting the Wartortle to soften his demeanor. "Sorry, sorry, that was a bad joke. You know, your arm healed, so..."

An awkward silence hung for a minute before he continued.

"So! I decided that now that your arm's better, I'll let you decide what to focus on today. Just give me one noise if you wanna try special attacks, two for melee, three for ranged," he explained. I considered for a second.

"...sha, sha," I decided. Bert's eyes lit up as he began to speak.

"Right, so when I got here, you mentioned you learned Razor Shell, right? I was hoping we could focus on that. What got you to try and learn it?" he inquired. Shuddering at the memory, I grabbed my paw and made a 'crack' sound as I bent it back. Bert winced before continuing.

"A-alright, that's good. You assessed the situation at paw and thought outside the box to try and solve it. Good on you. Now, I can't learn Razor Shell, damn my puny Wartortle self, but I can guess how it works. You just direct some energy into that shell of yours and hack away, right? It'll do more damage and tends to be more precise, or so I've heard. 'Course, trying to pump energy into inanimate objects is a bit tough without a bit of training, so... uh, you discharged, didn't you?"

I nodded. Biting his lip, Bert walked up to me and plucked my scalchop off my chest. As I instinctively panicked and tried to grab for it, he examined it.

"A fully grown 'wott scalchop... you never really get the chance to hold one o' these, what with Oshawott being so hard to come by around these parts," he observed before handing it back into my grabbing paws. "Try and pull off a Razor Shell here."

Gripping my scalchop tightly as if to avoid any more unannounced borrowings, I started drawing energy from my tide and into the weapon. As expected, I starting meeting resistance like last time, so with what I had learned from improving my Water Gun, I worked with it for a while until I felt the energy start flowing again. Grinning, I swung the scalchop with a loud cry. In the dimming light of the evening, I could make out a faint blue glow to the shell as it sliced through the air, though it was long gone by the time I held it up to see. Bert gave a quiet hum, then got down on his belly.

"Good, now try to do it on my shell," he instructed, tucking his head and limbs in. I stared at him.

"Wh-wha?!" I asked. Bert peeked his head out to look at me.

"I've been through worse. It'll heal, now hit me. It's the best way to figure how much work you'll need without cutting my arm off, y'know?" he reasoned.

"Sh... egh..." I managed, still not wanting to do this. When Bert didn't budge, I swallowed hard, gave a quiet apology, and swung. A crunch sounded as the hit landed, and when I opened my eyes, I found the Wartortle now examining a decently deep gash that was now in his shell. My eyes widened as he ran a finger along the scratch.

"S-sehr, am sahry..." I tried to apologize.

"I told you, kid, don't worry about it. Give it a week and no one'll notice the scratch," he dismissed before feeling at the gash again. "That was good for a beginner. Normally, I'd try to wait for the full moon so your tide would come easier, but, y'know, we missed it, so for now you'll have to just make do trying to improve the technique the old-fashioned way."

"Er... y-yesseh," I said, still a bit shaken.

"Alright, now try and get a feel for that thing, alright? I feel like you could've done better with that strike," he instructed. I nodded, and as Bert watched, I started striking the air before me once again.

We kept this up for a good while until the last light of dusk dipped below the trees, after which Bert let me go. As I started walking away, he sent a look after me.

"Kid?" he called. "Er... whatever's going on, I'm sure you can beat it. You're smarter than even some civilized 'mon I know, so just... er, keep at it, I believe in you, alright?"

"...tank yeh," I called back. Bert gave a simple smile in response, watching me before jumping into the river, leaving me to walk off to meet Rye.

* * *

I awoke groggily as the clanging of the wake-up bell hit my ears. I groaned, trying to reach for them with my stubby arms. Being an Oshawott, I had noticed my hearing had taken a leap since I'd woken up in this body, though whether this was a blessing or a curse, I wasn't quite sure. I quickly realized that going back to sleep wasn't an option and sat up, stretching as Rye stood up across from me.

"Morning. How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Y-yah," I affirmed. Rye did a quick double take as he stopped basking in the sunlight for a bit.

"Really? No visions or anything?" he asked. I blinked.

"Uh... n-neh," I said. Rye hummed a bit.

"...well, th-that should be a good sign, right? Maybe, uh, you aren't caught up in anything after all," he suggested. Giving a small grin at the suggestion, I nodded the conversation off and collected my scalchop from beside me. I wasn't quite sure how these vision things worked, but maybe Rye had a point? Maybe since another vision hadn't hit, the first one could have just been Scoria Cave messing with my head. The idea that I had no sort of monumental responsibility here had some merit to it again.

The more I thought this over, the more the stress and despair of the past week seemed to melt off my back. I could be home free here!

_'I mean, then again, there's what the Voice told you. That has to mean something._

…

_Anyways!'_

I merrily followed Rye out the door, shooting some poor novice team an intentionally horrid grin that made them stagger back in fear.

"...y-you seem in a good mood today," Rye observed as we stood in the breakfast line.

"Hm? Ah, yeah," I said. Rye cocked his head, but before he could ask why, we found ourselves in front of Raticate's window. Taking a quick look around, the cook leaned in towards us.

"Heya. Just a heads up, Nidorino came and told me that Persian over there put Oren powder on your usual seats. It won't kill ya, but it itches like nomon's business. I'd steer clear till I can get that cleaned up," he hurriedly whispered, blowing his rancid breath into our faces.

"Urgh, please- wait, you mean, like, the Persian from Team Assail?" Rye asked between gags. Raticate hurriedly shushed him while looking back up behind us, nodding once he seemed to find the coast was clear. Rye bit his lip in ill-contained anger as Raticate prepared our trays, though I leaned in to address him.

"T-tanks," I said quietly. Raticate shot me a smile as he worked.

"Don't mention it, kid. I've got you two," he whispered, winking as he handed us our food. As we headed to our seats, we took a closer look to find that indeed, a fine bluish powder was visible on the stumps. Looking back, I noticed, of course, Mustie's head craning up over the crowd to watch us. Narrowing my eyes, I blew a Razz at him as we moved a couple seats over. The Weavile's face scrunched up with anger as he started arguing with somemon below him.

Watching the scene for a minute, I soon turned my attention to my food. Sniffing at the ambiguous meat, my mouth immediately began to water. Experimentally popping a chunk in my mouth, I quickly resorted to attacking the rest of the meat as Rye watched on.

"Uh... it's Basculin, y-you want mine?" Rye asked. I happily accepted, chowing down on the morsel as Rye poked at his berries. I didn't know how I'd managed to miss fish in the time I'd been here, but... sweet Arceus. I didn't even remember liking fish as a human, but as an Oshawott, it was like the ambrosia of the heavens to me now. I was probably addicted right then and there, and I didn't care. As I ate, something nagged at me from deep within.

_'What the fuck? You're human, this is no way to act.'_

I slowed down for a bit before shrugging it off and continuing to eat. Sure, I was a human in mind, but something had decided to make me an Oshawott, and despite my memory loss and feral state, I was okay with that choice. Even if only a bit, this world was beginning to become more accepting of me. Things were getting better, and I wanted it to stay that way. Despite the cryptic words of the Voice, I was content.

I felt like today was gonna be a good day.


	30. Straitside Getaway

Arden could only wish he was having a good day.

As May followed him out of the mess hall, a weight hung on the Quilava's shoulders that was most definitely not the sack of food he was lugging along. It'd been almost a week since he'd found out about Beck's true nature, and the uncertainty of what this entailed still lingered like a bad odor. He had always been confident that he had things under control and that if anything were to go wrong, Team Apex would be able to drop everything and stamp it out before it escalated. However, with Beck now outed as human, he knew this wouldn't be an option now. What was wrong was unknown to him, and he guessed only Team Reach would know for sure.

So now the future was both unclear and quite possibly in the paws of Team Reach. Neither of those sounded particularly enticing, but both of them at once?

_'Well, that's that. We're all fucked. Isn't that-'_

"Arden?" May asked, watching the Quilava concernedly. Arden jumped and spun his head to meet May's gaze.

"You're doing it again. You're whispering to yourself," she said. Arden let out something between a sigh and a growl, though chose not to argue with the Leafeon. So what if he was talking to himself? That was a perfectly reasonable thing to do in times of stress, he figured, and May should know as well as any that that was the case for him.

Then again, she didn't know anything about what might be wrong. His oath of secrecy to Guildmaster Arcanine still held firm, and despite the recent developments and the vision he'd had that had nearly burned down the base, he had chosen to not break it. Maybe if he-

"Arden...!"

Before he could pull himself out of his stupor, Arden suddenly found himself on the ground with the food he had been carrying scattered in front of him. The Espurr he had tripped over sent a glare as it dusted itself off, not helping Arden's embarrassment as May stared in shock. As the Espurr continued on its way, Arden pushed himself up and started picking up the dirtied food.

"Arden, what even-" May began.

"It's Basculin, May. No one at base eats it anyways," Arden said. May shot him a patented Look, shutting him up as she continued.

"You know what I mean, Arden. Now tell me, what is going on?" she demanded. Arden opened his mouth to retort, though as he looked into May's eyes, he hesitated. Past the anger, there was pleading and concern that begged him to say something, anything. After a moment of hesitation, he sighed.

"I-I can't tell. The old dog's got me under oath," he said between clenched teeth. May's face softened as she considered his words. After a minute, she silently nodded. She knew that Arcanine's word was not to be challenged, so any sort of confession would be risky for both of them. Besides, she had at least gotten confirmation that something was up. She was at least happy with that.

As Arden picked the last of the Basculin off the ground, a pair of familiar voices met his ears. He looked behind him, his face souring as he saw the source.

_'Of fucking course.'_

"I-I still can't believe those two tried to do that! We aren't doing anything to them, why'd they pull that?" Rye complained as he and Beck skimmed over the boards. Beck gave a quick snort.

"Eh, shee-dyets," the Oshawott tried to say before scrunching his face up and sticking out a paw. "A-sheh-sheeh. Shyeegh," he said in a rough exaggeration of Mustie's annoying voice. As the two shared a laugh, May stifled her own chortle.

"Well, he's not far off. That _is_ pretty damn close to Mustie," she joked. Arden gave no reply, only watching the two as they looked up at the board before them. Shuddering, he tore his gaze from the two and continued on his way.

Watching him go, May gave the two novices one last glance before hurrying to follow Arden. She had known him for fifteen years, and she hadn't seen him act like this since... she wasn't even sure. She hated to see her friend like this, and she knew the only way she could start to help was if she found out what was weighing him down. Already, she thought she was beginning to gather what that might be. However, she couldn't quite wrap her head around one crucial detail in her observations thus far.

_'What does Beck have to do with anything...?'_

* * *

"Rye! Hehr!" I said, tugging on one of the notices hanging in front of me. A large rune was circled at the top, signaling a D-level mission that Rye quickly started reading the details of.

"Uh, D-level rescue mission to Basculin Strait. It says a Zigzagoon went missing about a day ago and that they're probably between floors two and five by now," he read. "Hrm... r-rescue missions are tough. I-I've heard Pokémon that don't go in prepared end up getting knocked out and taken pretty quickly... you sure you wanna go for this one? There's no guarantee we'll find that Zigzagoon."

"Yeah," I said. I mean, with that mindset, no one else was going to go, right? Rye considered for a minute before tearing the notice off the board, tucking it away as he gulped. We wasted no time in starting for the Guild's gate, though I stopped short as I noticed a few familiar faces off to the side: Team Luster idly leaning against the news board talking away.

"Hey!" I called, waving at them. Nidorino and Zangoose quickly looked up, flashing grins as they caught sight of us.

"Well, well, it's the bombermon!" Nidorino said. "You got the memo at breakfast, right?"

"Bombermon...? Er, y-yessir, thanks for that," Rye said as we walked up to the team.

"Hey, don't mention it. Oren powder sucks dong, we wouldn't want you two getting it all over you; call it compensation for the cave. So what're you two up to today?" Nidorino asked.

"Beck wants to go over to Basculin Strait for a rescue mission. I don't-" Rye started.

"Basculin Strait? That's, like, fifty miles, bit risky to pull a rescue there. You need any help getting there?" Nidorino asked. Rye bit his lip.

"N-no sir, we're good," he hurriedly reassured him. As Nidorino gave him a dubious look, a seemingly confused Raboot cleared his throat.

"Have we met?" he asked. Zangoose quickly gave him a hard rap on the side.

"Come on, it's only been two days, you dingus. Were you really that drunk, mon?" he reprimanded Raboot before squatting down to face us. "Sorry 'bout anything we might've said back there, Raboot never took in his cider well, you know?"

As Raboot sent him a death glare, Zangoose shot us another grin.

"I think we'll get along fine," he said, giving us a hard pat on our sides before getting back up. As we rubbed where Zangoose had patted us, Nidorino continued.

"You sure you don't want a lift to the Strait? Really, on foot you'll only get there tomorrow. If this is rescue work you're talking about, then I wouldn't wait," he said. Rye hesitated for a minute before pursing his lips and nodding.

"S-sorry to bother you about it," he squeaked. Nidorino gave a dismissive wave as he smirked.

"Lucky for you, Zangoose here knows a Rapidash," he said.

* * *

Indeed, it seemed Team Luster did know a Rapidash. He'd agreed to put an hour aside to carry us over to the dungeon, though he wouldn't be able to stick around to bring us back. While we'd have to make the return trip on foot, I wasn't complaining, I'd decided. As long as we could get over there quick, I was content with whatever.

Poor, naive me.

"Y'alright back there?" the Rapidash. Over the roaring of the wind blowing past and through my wrenched-shut eyes, I couldn't respond, as I feared any attempt would somehow end with my becoming a grease spot on the ground below. Rye, meanwhile, just held on as tight as he could. He had long since given up trying to make Rapidash slow down, so now he let out light moans as our steed's flaming mane roared over us, just barely drowning out his thundering hooves.

Taking our continued clinging on as a sign we were alright, the Rapidash continued barreling down the dirt route, the pine forest around it streaking past in a blur of green. The air around me seemed to grow saltier every minute as we got closer to the coast, a small detail that helped to calm me a bit. Something about this new feeling in the air just felt right to me, something that I could likely attribute to my Water-typing.

Needless to say, I was becoming decently excited to see how I would fare in this new dungeon. I tried to grin to myself, though this didn't last long as I felt something fly into my now-open mouth, which I quickly spit out as it twitched.

_'Agh! Wh-what was that? A Cutiefly? Yvetal's wings, did I just kill someone? Or... or was that a feral? Are there feral Bug-types? If regular Spinarak bites are as bad as they are, what are feral ones like?_

_...well, that's an unpleasant thought.'_

Trying to push that out of my head, I tried to focus on Rapidash's rambling. He hadn't stopped talking since Team Luster had taken us to his... house? Stable? I don't know how to describe where he lived, but the point is, he hadn't shut up for the twenty minutes he must have been galloping for.

"...the road to our left that we just passed leads to Littora Village! Nice little town of maybe thirty Pokémon, used to be bigger before the Strait dungeon swallowed up the harbor! Speakin' of which, we should be coming up on the entrance in a bit, so get your things in order!"

My ears pricked up at the announcement as I felt Rapidash begin to slow. As he soon grinded to a halt, I dropped off his back and hugged the dirt. I had never thought feeling the dirt beneath my feet would be such a delight (if you don't count the flight to Bassa Village), so I was really just happy to be off. As Rye stumbled off Rapidash's back, he fell to his knees and vomited out his breakfast, then looked over to me as he trembled.

"L-let's just have Cap'n Brine fly us next time," he managed out. Wiping the ick off his snout, he pushed himself up and looked towards the foreboding sight ahead. Past the warning sign that marked the dungeon, the pine trees that framed the road became less and less dense until nothing remained but rocky crags that whistled eerily as salty wind blew between them. Despite my unease at this, I was still optimistic about the mission, so I turned to Rapidash to give a "tanks."

"Not a problem. I'll be headin' back now, got places to be. Good luck out there!" he said before starting to gallop the other way. As the light of his fiery mane became dimmer through the dust cloud, I turned my attention to Rye. A brief worried glance later, he swallowed hard.

"Alright, let's do it. Should be easy, looks like there's mostly Rock and Water-types in there. But, uh... w-what if we don't find Zigzagoon?" he asked. I hesitated for a bit.

"Rye, is ah-keh," I said, offering a confident smile. Rye blinked once or twice before he nodded and tried to put on an about face.

"Alright, then. Let's go."

Grasping my scalchop confidently, I led Rye down the path ahead. For the first time, I didn't flinch as the air around me became cold and menacing.

Even as doubt over what I had decided nagged at me, I was still steadfast in that today was going to be good.

* * *

**Basculin Strait**

**3F**

A large wave splashed up to the right of us, drenching us in seawater once more. As I spit a mouthful of water out, I made sure my scalchop was still on my chest and kept close to an ever-cautious Rye. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this dungeon by now, especially once I had found that it opened straight towards the ocean. While the idea of being near the sea had initially excited some deep instinct within me, something about the waters that sat below us didn't feel right. I mean, that's a given for mystery dungeons, but navy-blue water that never stopped storming just isn't normal by any definition, and the neverending gusts really didn't help. And... was that a shipwreck out on the horizon?

Okay, then.

Slinking into a hallway to escape the salty mist, we started calling out for Zigzagoon, again hoping that just maybe he'd be in this room. As to be expected by this point, no Zigzagoon showed up, only a pissed-off Corsola. As it fired a Water Gun at me, I tried to hack at it with my scalchop, using Razor Shell as Bert had taught me. While water against water was by no means an effective combo, it still cut one of the corals on its back off, stunning it long enough for Rye to finish off with a Mega Drain. Leaving its unconscious body lying there, we quickly found ourselves at a dead end, the only thing of interest being the floor's stairs leading up between two crags. Giving a quiet groan, Rye sat down on the stairs and rubbed salt from his eyes as I quickly joined him.

"Well, this sucks," I heard him say over the wind. I tried to give him a look of half remorse, half annoyance, though he noticed and groaned. "I-it's freezing, you try being cold-blooded in this weather!" he reasoned. I couldn't quite find a retort to that.

_'I... didn't even consider that.'_

Biting my tongue, I huddled up against him to try and warm him. After a minute of silence, he sighed.

"H-how long've we been at this?" he asked.

"Uh, ah-weh an haah," I said. Rye's expression became quizzical.

"Hm?" he asked.

"Ah-wer an a haff," I tried again, only confusing Rye further.

"What's an hour?" he asked. I paused for a moment, then made a dismissive noise as I mentally jotted down another casualty of whatever this Ruin was. I knew Rye would ask me about this later, but for now, he looked up the staircase above us.

"When we find Zigzagoon, I think I'm just gonna curl up in a fireplace somewhere," he muttered as he got up and led me up the stairs.

* * *

**Basculin Strait**

**4F**

If I could say one good thing about Arid Riverbed, it was that the crappy weather at least didn't stick around. We could have stayed in this dungeon for a week and I wouldn't have been surprised if the wind never stopped. While on one hand, having saltwater blown in my face felt strangely nice, the fact that Rye stayed huddled up against me the entire floor just made me feel bad. Even the fact that we hadn't run into any ferals hadn't been enough to lift our spirits as we scoured the floor for Zigzagoon. As we trudged along what felt like the hundredth identical pathway, Rye tried to stretch his arms as he walked beside me, accidentally hitting me in the head.

"Sorry, j-just... I think I'll go numb if I just stay still, y'know?" he said. I nodded, reaching for my aching head as we entered a large valley. Squinting through the mist, I caught sight of a stream splitting the valley in two, roaring as it flowed violently towards the sea.

_'Alright, water's nothing I can't handle.'_

As we approached the offending rapids, I experimentally stuck a foot in, biting my lip as I felt how cold it was. I knew Rye wouldn't be able to swim across, but at this temperature, I probably wouldn't be able to lead him across without shock or something kicking in. Maybe if I...?

No, that wouldn't work.

But what if...

"Rye?" I said meekly, squatting down. "Shal-dehs."

Rye didn't seem to understand, so I stepped into the water, wading through the rough currents to the other side and back, then squatted back down. Now seeing where I was going with this, he swallowed hard and climbed on, sitting on my shoulders as I heaved him up.

Now, one of the issues of being an Oshawott comes in here. If I recall correctly, the average Treecko clocks in at about ten pounds. Yet here I was, struggling to even keep one on my shoulders as I headed into the stream. The bag around his shoulders might have added a bit of weight, but that was five pounds tops.

How pathetic is that?

Anyways, it seemed my idea was going decently well, as Rye wasn't washed with the brunt of the cold rapids. Panting as I carried the nervous Treecko along, I kept reassuring myself of my progress.

_'See, Beck? You're halfway there. If you haven't faceplanted in the water by this point, then-'_

"SIIIIIIIIIAAH!"

I winced violently, trying to cry out over the unbearable screech. My ears immediately felt like they had exploded several times over, leaving nothing but throbbing pain and a loud ringing. Trying to reach for them, I staggered in place as I felt a warm sensation flowing out of them. Pulling my paw back, I found it covered in red.

_'Well, isn't that great?'_

My head throbbing, I tried to gain my bearings. I was still standing in the middle of the stream, blood occasionally dripping from my ears into the rapids below. I had somehow managed to plant my feet into the rocks below, and the weight off my shoulders had ensured my staying upright in...

Wait.

Weight off my shoulders?

…

"Rye!" I yelled. I could barely hear myself over the ringing in my ears, but I still spun around looking for my friend. Instead, I found a large froglike Pokémon watching me from the shore, fury in its eyes as the lumps on its head vibrated. It seemed we'd stepped into the Seismitoad's territory, and if that attack was anything to go off of, it didn't forgive easily.

Seeing I wasn't fleeing, the Seismitoad breathed in to prepare another attack. I quickly dipped my head under the water as it let out another screech, causing faintly glowing waves to escape from its mouth and wash over the surface as they moved erratically. Supersonic, I guessed. Upon realizing I hadn't been hit, the Seismitoad jumped into the stream, conjuring a glob of mud up from the bottom and hurling it at my head. I tried to jump out of the way of the Mud Shot, but that only ended with me losing my footing and getting overwhelmed by the currents.

As I struggled to get back up, the Seismitoad caught up with my flailing self, ready to finish me off. Miffed at the unfair playing field, I tried to grab hold of the smooth stones on the bottom of the stream, though that ended predictably. With the Seismitoad now looming over me, I desperately grabbed one of the rocks and threw it as hard as I could into its face. The frog monster staggered back, a bruise quickly forming on its cheek as I started trying to swim for shore. When it gave a loud angry croak and ran up again, I hit it again in its forehead, taking the brief pause that resulted to grab at the shore and pull myself up. Pushing myself to my feet, I gave a confident smirk. We were on fair ground now. Staring the Seismitoad in the eyes, I grabbed for my scalchop...

_'...uh, scalchop. Come on, scalchop. Where are you... no. Oh, no.'_

My face fell as I looked back at the stream. My scalchop must have come off in the river! I had to go back in and... no, it was probably way down the stream by now. But I couldn't lose it, I just... I couldn't!

As the realization weighed down on me like a Snorlax on melatonin, I stumbled back, the Seismitoad now approaching me once again as it prepared to strike...

...and then a rock struck the thing in the chest.

Snapping my head to the side, my eyes lit up. Though he was bruised, shivering, and looked close to passing out, Rye stood defiantly as he shakily got into stance. Seemingly upset at its murder time interrupted, the Seismitoad wasted no time in firing another Mud Shot at Rye, who weaved past it and swung the bag into its gut. The Seismitoad responded by spraying a purple liquid straight at Rye, who still seemed to be disoriented from having his ears blown out. I quickly and instinctively pushed Rye out of the way, taking the brunt of the Acid attack in the process. As the weak but still painful liquid ate at my skin, I let out a loud yell of pain. Seeing this, Rye's face began to contort with raw anger, his eyes taking on an indigo glow as he glared at the Seismitoad.

"Leave us alone!" he roared, releasing a massive plume of purple-blue flames from his mouth. I watched in awe as the strangely beautiful fire dissipated, now only remaining on the screeching Seismitoad. Giving a final enraged croak, it scrambled into the river and swam off, leaving us alone on the side of the river. As the purple glow disappeared from Rye's eyes and he returned to calm, we stood there at a loss for a moment.

Had Rye just used Dragon Breath?

In his stupor, he tried to say something, but I couldn't hear him over the ringing in my ears.

"Wh-wha?" I yelled.

Rye let out a questioning blur of noise in return. We quickly realized that our bleeding ears weren't about to be of much help, so we stopped trying to talk and took a moment to think. We had both gone half-deaf, we were cold, wounded and tired, I had lost my scalchop, and we still hadn't found-

"Uh..." someone said from the path behind us. Spinning around, I breathed a loud sigh of relief as a Zigzagoon stood there, his face etched with shock over what he had apparently just seen. The filthy Pokémon tried to ask a question, though stopped short as he saw the streaks of red running down from our ears.

"Er... ARE YOU RES-CUE _?_ " he loudly enunciated.

"Y-yeah," I said. A wide, relieved smile crossed Zigzagoon's dirty face as he continued.

"HEARD THE SEIS-MI-TOAD. SAW WHAT HAPP-ENED _,_ " he yelled. As I winced from his loud voice starting the painful throbbing in my ears again, Rye snapped out of his daze and started digging for our badges.

"R-Rye, neh," I hurriedly said, gesturing to my empty chest and the stream. As I hobbled over to the bank to try to dive for my lost scalchop, Rye put a hand on my back and tried to reassure me of something. Although I couldn't make out anything, I understood his sentiments with some thought. My weapon was probably in the sea by now, and with my current state, I probably wasn't in any state to go looking for it. After a minute of hesitation, I gave a final forlorn look towards the stream, sighed, and took my badge from Rye. Tapping Zigzagoon with it, that familiar bright light and rush of air lifted me off the ground, finally ending our lovely little beach getaway.

* * *

"COME ON, WE GOT TO GO THIS WAY," Zigzagoon enunciated loudly as we limped down the road away from Basculin Strait.

"Whar go?" I asked. Zigzagoon turned to give me an odd look.

"Wh- uh, WHY ARE YOU TAL-KING LIKE THAT?" he asked. I narrowed my eyes, so Zigzagoon gulped and continued, clearly not wanting to test the 'mons he'd just watched fight off a Seismitoad.

"LITT-OR-A TOWN. GON-NA GET HELP," he yelled. Confused, I pointed at the dried blood on my ears, but his grin didn't falter as he hopped back and forth to the sides, leaving a zigzag trail in the dust as his tail dragged behind him. I was confused, how could busted eardrums be just... healed?

This place just kept getting weirder and weirder.

As we kept walking, I felt for where my scalchop was supposed to be. Taking a long look back over my shoulder towards the dungeon, I tried to think of what I'd do without my trusty little weapon. I had grown so dependent on it, and I had just learned how to use it in techniques. Now I just felt defenseless and vulnerable, despite the confident buzzwords I tried to push in my mind. Maybe it was instinct, but even though I was pretty sure I'd grow another one soon, I just didn't feel complete anymore.

_'I... you just said you'll have a new one in a couple weeks. Don't dwell on it.'_

Trying to reassure myself of this over the ringing in my ears, I dragged my tail after Rye and Zigzagoon, the promise of help sounding better than ever.

* * *

As promised, when we dragged ourselves into Littora Town that afternoon, we had been immediately swarmed by the locals, who after getting the brunt of what had happened from Rye, had tried to care for us as best as a small fishing town could. While we weren't entirely healed, the miracle of Oran berries had ensured we could at least hear now. Zigzagoon's aforementioned ma had volunteered to keep us for the night, so as dusk started to fall, we carried straw in from outside to make makeshift beds in the larger of her house's two rooms. Watching us as we adjusted ourselves, Zigzagoon stayed huddled up against his ma, eyeing her nervously as she gave us a warm smile.

"That's all I can really do for the time being. If y'all need anything, just give me a holler, alright?" the Linoone said.

"Y-yes, ma'am. Thank you so much for-" Rye started.

"No, no, no, it's nothing! You saved my boy, it's the least I can do!" she assured us. "You two get comfy. Ziggy and I will be in the other room; we need to have a little... ahem, talk."

As Zigzagoon gulped hard, Linoone put out the torch and led him into the other room, from which indistinct angry yelling immediately started to ring. Groaning at the noise, I took a look towards Rye, who had taken to staring at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Rye? Yeh ah-keh?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah, uh..." Rye answered. He kept staring up for a minute before turning to look towards me.

"What happened back there with the Seismitoad? It was like... everything went red for a minute; one second you were on the ground and the next the Seismitoad was on fire. D-did you see what happened?" he asked.

"Yeah, uh... d-deh... dah-gehn beth," I said. Rye's eyes widened as he sat up.

"Wait, did you say... I-I used Dragon Breath?! Wh-what? How? I-I shouldn't know how to... m-maybe that's my egg move? Gran-Gran was a Salamence, s-so... I..."

Rye put his hands on his head, muttering to himself as he tried to process this new development. After a minute of silence only broken by Linoone and Zigzagoon arguing in the other room, he laid back down, sighing.

"I-I'll have to go to Ms. May and ask for help with this. I don't wanna lose control again," he said. I nodded my approval, resting my head on the straw as Rye curled up.

"Well... uh, g'night, I guess," he said.

"Naht," I replied.

Soon enough, Rye fell asleep and the background argument began to quiet down, leaving me with ample atmosphere to think. Sure, we had mostly gotten our asses handed to us today and I'd lost my scalchop, but we'd managed to save Zigzagoon and Rye had learned a new move.

All in all, I'd say this day was worth it.

Finding some contentedness in this, I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep...

…

Chaos.

Pure, absolute chaos.

That was all I could describe what I was now seeing. Before me, a massive, elaborate stone structure rose into the sky, smoke billowing out of its windows as fires raged around it. Around me, Pokémon screamed and ran as the roar of battle raged around me, dozens of other Pokémon mercilessly slicing and firing at each other as my body pushed itself off the ground, moving against my will as it glared into the chamber ahead. Looking down, I found my body had been replaced with what appeared to be a Froslass's wounded form, blue vapor escaping from its many cuts instead of blood. Before I could question what was going on, my body raced into the burning structure. Inside, several more Pokémon were gathered around an altar of some kind, their forms only being lit up by the flames around me.

"You have desecrated the Dialgite Temple. I give you one final chance. Leave now or you shall pay for your crimes against time," my body commanded in a cold, feminine tone. Without so much as a twitch, the Pokémon in the center turned its head, the firelight revealing its face...

_...oh, sweet Arceus. No. Nononono!_

"I advise you follow your own advice, ghost," Xatu dryly commanded. My body's eyes narrowed, wincing as I felt unfamiliar energy flow through me. As it tried to fire off an attack at Xatu, the bird jerked his head to the side, causing the pillars I was standing between to give way. Before my body could get out of the way, pain coursed through it as a chunk of rubble pinned it down, a massive cloud of dust billowing as the temple's facade collapsed.

As it settled, I saw Xatu psychically tear the altar from its place, pulling something out from inside. As he dropped the ruined altar onto the mosaic floor, he paused to stare at the thing he had just produced: a large, diamond-like sphere. An aura seemed to emanate from the artifact, making me feel uneasy at its apparent power. Xatu didn't seem to care, however, as he carefully placed it in a bag he was carrying and turned to leave. As he and the Pokémon flanking him passed, my broken body tried once more to stop him.

"You can't... you know not what you do!" it said weakly. Xatu paused to look down at me.

"Your efforts in defending this temple today have earned you my respect, Froslass, but what this orb represents means far more than you could possibly comprehend. Within this, salvation lies for this world. We can begin our quest to grasp the old order man once wrought with this artifact. For the good of everyone in this world, do not try to stand in our way any further," he rasped. My body paused.

"...you wish to see the world man built?" it said, venom dripping from its voice. "So be it."

A powerful connection formed between my body and Xatu, followed by a massive slew of information. I tried to focus on it out of curiosity, only to be met with horrible images: war, prejudice, crime, Pokémon abuse, the exploitation of nature, a blinding light shining from atop Mount Coronet...

I didn't dare watch any more. Before long, the wave finished, and my exhausted body looked into Xatu's eyes. However, instead of horror or remorse, there was only rage.

"You... dare?! You do not think I know of their sins?!" he seethed. "You think me so much of a fool that I would ignore this? You believe what I have seen is not worse than this?!"

A large, sharp piece of rubble rose behind Xatu, floating over him as he leaned down, his face twitching with contained rage. My body sat up in a final act of defiance against the Psychic.

"You cannot fathom the evils they committed. Returning that evil would not-"

"I cannot?" Xatu spat. "You have no idea."

With that, he plunged the rock into my head. Hot, splitting pain seared through my skull as everything became dark...

"AAAGH!" I screamed, violently flailing as I snapped awake. Rye immediately shot out of bed, running over to tend to me.

"Beck! Beck, it's okay! You're okay! I-it was a nightmare, okay? You're okay!" he said.

As my hyperventilating slowed, I managed to get a grip back on reality. The waxing moon was still climbing up the sky, and several townsfolk looked to be leaning out of their houses to see what the ruckus was about, Linoone and Zigzagoon included. In the meager light, I stared at Rye for a moment, then just broke down. Surprised at this, Rye reluctantly pulled me into an embrace, trying to comfort me through quiet words of support I couldn't quite make out. As I buried my face into his shoulder, several things made themselves clear in my head.

I had just watched someone die.

I had probably just been the sole surviving witness to some horrible crime.

I now had undeniable proof that Xatu was out for blood.

I now knew that I couldn't run away from the facts anymore. Something big was up, and I had been chosen to fix it.

…

Shit.


	31. Uncertainty

I'd just like to get this off my chest real quick. Despite my excitement of being near the sea on the trip here, I don't think I'd be touching Basculin Strait with a fifty-foot-long pole for a good long while. I'd had too much cold seawater splashed on me, encountered one too many Seismitoads, and rivers in these places? I had only encountered dungeon rivers twice, and both experiences had seen me almost dying. My general consensus was that they could die in a hole. In short, I didn't want anything to do with this place for a long, long time.

Well, actually... it's complicated.

On one hand, the place had that damn dungeon. On another, it was one of the nicer places I'd seen in my time here. The pleasant ocean smell mixed with pine aroma, the noticeable lack of ferals outside the dungeon, the sleepy but friendly little town of Littora, and the brilliant sunrises over the beach helped add to my uncertainty of how to remember this place.

Unfortunately, that bit about the sunrise was only reserved to a quick look out the window before Ms. Linoone gave me a light rap on the side, scolding me for moving. As the light of dawn crept through the windows, she took the grounded mix of Oran and obscure herbs she held in her paws and pushed it down my ears with her long claws, massaging it in vigorously as I whined uncomfortably.

"Now, Oshawott, you need this if you want your ears to heal. You're lucky you came here when you did, any longer and you would have needed a lot more than berries to fix you up," she said.

"Halp," I croaked out in response, sending a pleading look to a seated Rye as he rubbed his earlobes, having already gone through this procedure. The Treecko mouthed an apology as he shrunk back, leaving me to this cruel beast's torture. Soon enough, Ms. Linoone took her claw out of my ear and wiped her paws, giving me a friendly smile.

"Well, now, I reckon that oughta do it. You should be able to go back to your guild without too much hassle now. Just don't stick anything down your ears or listen to anything too loud and you'll be right as rain by sunset!" she piped. Unsuccessfully reaching for my aching ears, I begrudgingly forced a thanks out as she packed up the berry-based medicine by her side.

"Now, then, I'll just be getting these back to Roselia. Ziggy will be outside gathering firewood if y'all need anything," she called back as she headed out the door. Now that we seemed to be alone, Rye took a glance around and bit his lip.

"So, Beck. Uh... about that nightmare you had?" he asked.

I clenched my teeth. Since I'd waken up from what definitely seemed to be a vision, I had refused to go back to sleep, giving me plenty of time to try to explain what had happened to Rye. It had taken a lot of broken words, drawing, and warding off the curious Linoone family to get it across to him, but all I had managed to communicate was that a temple had been attacked, Xatu was there, something had been stolen, and that someone had been killed. With that little info, Rye couldn't provide much help, but he had at least gotten the gist of my present worries.

"D-did the temple look familiar? Did anyone say where you were? Maybe we can figure this out easier if we know a bit more about where this was," he pondered.

I sat there for a minute, trying to scour my memory for anything I might have seen or heard. Any visual landmarks wouldn't help, since the ones that weren't shrouded in smoke were unfamiliar to me. Maybe someone said something that... wait!

" _You have desecrated the Dialgite Temple."_

"D-Dal-gah!" I blurted out. Rye's eyes widened.

"Dialga?!" he gasped.

"Dialga...?" a third voice squeaked from the door. We immediately spun around, recoiling as we found someone observing us: Zigzagoon, his face becoming panicked as he shrunk back behind the doorframe. Rye immediately scrambled to his feet and led me outside, where Zigzagoon seemed to realize running wouldn't be an option and gave a forced innocent chuckle.

"H-how much did you hear?!" Rye choked out.

"I don't know! The dream, I guess?" Zigzagoon said as his eyes darted between the two of us.

"Why were you listening in on us?"

"I-I don't know! Ma went out, so I just... y'know, you can't blame a 'mon for being curious!"

Rye put his hands on his head as he groaned to himself.

"J-just don't tell anyone, please!" the Treecko said. Zigzagoon hurriedly nodded, looking us in the eye. I was still quite wary of him, though I let myself relax a bit, allowing Zigzagoon to step aside, his eyes wide as he shrunk back into his house. Before long, cloth fell over the window, only arousing further suspicion from the both of us.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Rye demanded.

"Let me think about this!" Zigzagoon's voice yelled out. Exchanging worried glances at this breach, Rye and I watched the window expectantly for a minute before I felt my stomach growl. Hearing this, Rye looked at me concernedly.

"Er, how's some food sound? I think there's a few apples left in the bag, we can figure this out over those," he said.

"Yea," I agreed. Swallowing back our collective anxiety, we headed back in, at least happy to drown our sorrows in mildly rancid apple juice.

* * *

As the old saying claimed, a simple life was a happy life. Zigzagoon couldn't have agreed less.

If he could describe his life in three distinct terms, he would have likely picked boring, boring, and boring; an open contrast to his fellow townsfolk. Zigzagoon's friends and family seemed content with the status quo that now slowly rotted away the very foundations of the dying town, claiming his lust for something greater was nothing more than a phase and that he would grow out of it soon enough.

Of course, his running away to try to clear the nearby mystery dungeon hadn't helped change their minds, though it had brought about an unintended side effect.

The two odd explorers that had answered the plea for help from Zigzagoon's mother had been the most interesting thing to drop into this little backwater in a good couple of years. Many were a little perplexed at first once they discovered Oshawott's apparent feral nature, though Zigzagoon's retelling of what had happened had settled their uncertainty over this.

However, despite the fact they'd saved his life, Zigzagoon wasn't entirely at ease with these two outsiders. Although he had never been outside of this general area, he was decently sure waking up half the town with nightmares and discussing visions of a temple of Dialga was by no means normal.

As he laid curled on his scratchy straw bed, he heard Treecko and Oshawott walk in, the former talking idly as they collected something from their bag before leaving. After listening for a bit to make sure they weren't coming back, Zigzagoon quietly tiptoed off his bed and zigzagged his way to the covered window to take a quick peek out. The two now sat on an old pine stump just outside, munching away at a couple of apples. As a couple of the village kids took notice of their feasting, Zigzagoon slunk back and sat against the wall, still contemplating hard.

If these two weren't collectively insane, then... perhaps this could spell opportunity?

As he considered this, his mother walked in, having returned from her errand. As she got settled, she quickly took notice of her son's state.

"Sweetie? Why aren't you getting wood? You feeling alright?" she asked. Said sweetie blinked, hesitating for a minute.

"I'm fine, ma," he soon said. He decided would need to wait for the right moment for this to work, but if this strange team from up north was as in need of help as he thought...

Maverick couldn't help but give a rare hopeful smile to himself. Wherever work had taken his pa, he hoped whatever he was going to do would make him proud.

* * *

Littora Town was... nice. I don't know, I couldn't really think of any other way to put it. The town was mostly just a group of shacks haphazardly scattered around a small dirt plaza that opened directly into the sea, though the docks the shore boasted were empty and overgrown. Looking at how the water became unnaturally darker as it got further out, I could guess why.

Despite that glaring issue, the Pokémon bustling around the tiny town more or less went about their day without complaint. All of them seemed to be contributing to the town's survival somehow, should it be farming, gathering wood, or caring for the young, and yet they hadn't hesitated to put that on hold to help us out yesterday. I couldn't help but get a fuzzy feeling inside just thinking about it, a welcome change from the ever-lingering stress of losing my scalchop and last night's vision.

As Ms. Linoone gave us a wave on her way back home, I took another look around, a bit sad that we'd have to leave once we got our things in order. As I took another breath of the sweet seaside air for good measure, I made to eat the no doubt mushy apple in my paws, though a small cough sounded out before I could. Looking behind me, I found a pair of young Mudkips eyeing the two of us.

"C-could one of you spare an apple?" one squeaked. I bit my lip, looking at the pitiful-looking Pokémon. Their undeveloped ribs showed through their skin, and as I stared into their pleading eyes, pity coursed through me. Before I could reply, though, Rye handed his apple over to the pair. Their eyes lit up as one of them took it in its mouth, giving a quick thanks through it before they ran into the town, disappearing behind one of the houses. I cast a glance at the now appleless Rye, who gave a smile after the Mudkips despite the rumbling of his stomach. After grabbing for my missing scalchop to cut it in half, I sullenly offered my apple to Rye. Gratefully accepting it, Rye stared off into the ramshackle town.

"I can't stand seeing places like this. Towns that would've been really nice if mystery dungeons didn't exist... I-I don't know, I don't think I can really talk. Twistfoot was pretty bad, but even it had pretty fertile soil. Dill and I always wanted to help these places out somehow. I dunno," he mused before suddenly turning to look at me. "Uh, did mystery dungeons exist when you were human?"

"Uh... neh," I said. Rye's expression became unreadable as he looked towards the dungeon-infested waters, quietly whispering to himself as I kept thinking. Try as I might, I couldn't seem to recall anything about the places.

_'Well, unless Castelia during rush hour counts! Ha... what's Castelia? What's rush hour?'_

Thankful I wasn't able to blurt whatever that was out, I silently watched Rye eat. Before long, he shifted on the stump we were sitting on.

"So, uh... what's the plan for Zigzagoon?" he asked.

"Hrm..." I pondered. After a bit, I straightened up. "Neh."

"Wh-what? You said nothing? B-but what if he tells someone?" Rye asked. I responded by pointing towards my head, moving my arm in a twirling motion. I figured that if he tattled, no one in their right mind would buy it. Rye gave a small nod of understanding before continuing.

"Alright, uhm... y-you saw a temple for Dialga in your nightmare, and Xatu stole something from it?" he asked. I nodded, getting a long, light sigh from him.

"Uh... I... I think we should ask Mr. Arcanine about this; I don't think gonna be any help here. If there's anyone who'd know what got taken, it'd be him," he soon concluded. My ears pricked up.

"Ah, yeah!" I agreed. Our encounter with the Guildmaster two days ago had gone pretty well, so another talk with him would be best, I thought. With that decided, I sat back as Rye kept eating his apple.

Despite the assurance of help, however, I couldn't find peace as I stared up at the sky. Every time I zoned out, I'd remember the billowing smoke and the screams around me as the temple in front of me burned. I'd see the cold, furious gaze of that damn Xatu as he prepared for the killing blow. I'd have to wonder if this really was the situation I'd been thrown into or the start of something worse.

All I could do was hope otherwise at this point, I guess.

* * *

The midmorning sun beamed down on us as we stared down the road out of Littora Town. What looked to be the entire town had gathered to see us off, watching us as Rye clutched our bag close. The fifty-mile walk ahead looked intimidating without a Rapidash, to say the least, but we figured we could manage. As I stretched my poor, poor legs in anticipation of what was to come, Ms. Linoone stepped out of the crowd to hand us our reward of a bag of Poké, solemnly bowing her head as we accepted it.

"Don't worry, we don't really need this much money 'round here. I could never thank you enough for savin' my lil angel. W-with his pa still out o' town, I don't know what we'd do without him," she choked out. Her little angel blushed furiously, though watched us intently all the same. Noticing this, Rye pursed his lips.

"I-it's no problem, ma'am, thank you for helping us out," he said. "Uh, d-did Zigzagoon tell you anything this morning?"

"Oh, how you gave your food to the Mudkip brothers? Of course, that was mighty sweet o' you! Poor Swampert needs all the help she can get, y'know," Ms. Linoone said. We both breathed a sigh of relief as we smiled and waved to the small cheering procession. As we started to walk away, something nagged at me.

_'What Rye was talking about, with these towns suffering... I can't just let them wallow like this, not after everything they did. But I can't do anything, can I?_

_...wait.'_

"Rye, wait," I blurted out before tearing into our bag. As Rye watched curiously, I fished something out and ran back over to the town, setting the small trinket down. As I stepped away, the crowd seemed to collectively recoil in shock. A minute passed before the silence was broken by a Sewaddle up front.

"Th-that's an explorer's badge! Why're you leaving it here?" it yelled. I gestured over to the water, where the mystery dungeon there brewed ominously. I tapped it to myself and made a "vwehh" sound, shooting my paw up.

"Wait, that's the kind that warps you out of dungeons? Why are you leavin' it here?" a Roselia yelled. I gestured over to Zigzagoon, who stared at me gobsmacked as I waited for a response. Eventually, Ms. Linoone stepped up again.

"You're not gonna give us a choice, are you, hon?" she asked. I shook my head, prompting her to give another bow of her head as she laid her paw on the badge.

"We're in your debt, you two. You've saved a lot o' lives here, w-we can't..."

She shrunk back, sniffling as Zigzagoon nodded to himself, muttering something quietly. As I gave a final wave, the still stunned crowd watched me catch up to Rye, who stood there with his arms crossed.

"The Guild's really not gonna like that," he said as we started down the road. I shrugged, pointing to my empty belly and making a whoosh as I pushed my arms out, imitating the stream where I'd lost my scalchop. Rye watched this display worriedly, though didn't turn around to take my badge back.

As we kept going, I noticed Rye taking a glance back with a poorly-hidden smile on his face, which put my worries about this decision at ease. Despite the uncertainty lying ahead, I was happy I'd made a positive difference. With my badge, Littora Town wouldn't have to fear the mystery dungeon at their doorstep anymore. They'd be able to go in without having to worry of dying, instead focusing on gathering the resources I reasoned were probably inside, traversing the rough waters, or whatever else the risk of death inside was stopping them from doing. With that gift, Littora Town would survive.

Through all the shit we'd been through in this little adventure, I couldn't help but feel happy knowing that.

* * *

"You _what?_ "

I squirmed in place as Cinccino stared down at us from her booth, her jaw agape. We'd been fearing this since we'd left Littora Town yesterday, though we'd thankfully had enough time to prepare for this confrontation.

"B-Beck was carrying the bag when the Seismitoad showed up, it hit him in the side, and he fell in and lost his, uh, sh-shell and badge there," Rye explained. I made a noise of confirmation, pointing to the bruised welt on my side that the Seismitoad had definitely given me.

" _A-alright, Beck, I've got a big enough rock. Here we go, s-sorry about this."_

Definitely.

As Cinccino glanced at our injuries and where my scalchop should have been, she let out a light sigh before giving us a smile.

"Very well, then, I'll see if I can get you a new one. If we have any left, I'll have it mailed to you tomorrow. Just pin it to your bag in the future, alright?" she said.

"Yeh, mahm," I said, putting maybe just a bit too much fake innocence in my voice there. She thankfully didn't seem to notice, so she pushed us our share of the mission's reward and waved us off.

Clutching our bag of Poké, I felt a rush of relieved accomplishment as we stepped through the Guild's gates, a sentiment that looked to be shared by a newly excited Rye, and after we had shrunk out of Cinccino's gaze, he let out a victorious hoot, turning to face me as he raised his hand in the air. I gave an unsure look for a bit, though my ears pricked up in understanding before I gave him a high-five. As we finished our little celebration, we turned our attention back to the Slaking in the room: it was late in the afternoon, we'd been walking the entire day, and we were exhausted.

"What do you say we rest at base till supper and go to Mr. Arcanine afterwards?" Rye proposed.

"Yeah, ah-keh," I agreed. With that decided, we dragged our aching feet back towards our quarters, hoping for the start of a short but nice break.

...yeah, I wish.

* * *

"Urgh, Basculin again," Rye grimaced as he examined the food on our trays. "At least he put fruit. And, uh, you like Basculin, right?"

"Wha? Oh, y-yeah," I said, casting my gaze down as we took our seats. As Rye started picking berries out of his food, I absentmindedly poked at my own. Sticking a bit of Basculin into my mouth, I rolled it around on my tongue. It was good, but not as much as a couple days ago. I was sure Raticate hadn't messed it up tonight, so I attributed it to a loss of appetite from my persistent crummy mood.

As I kept staring into my food, a sudden murmur rang through the hall. Craning my head up, I noticed a couple of Magnetons floating through the hall's door, looking around at the Pokémon inside before they began to speak.

"Imperative: Please remain seated. Statement: An official announcement from the Societies is to be given shortly," one of them droned in a quick monotone voice. I cocked my head in confusion, though it seemed this had been enough to concern just about everyone in the hall, Rye included.

"Th-the Mags? They don't come here unless..." he pondered as the Magnetons gestured to someone outside. As I kept watching curiously, Officer Magnezone floated in, followed quickly by a quite concerned-looking Guildmaster Arcanine. At the sight of the Guildmaster, the Pokémon around me erupted into questions, all yelling over the uproar his arrival had incited. I'd never seen Arcanine in here, and by the looks of it, neither had anyone else.

"Quiet," Arcanine demanded. As the crowd settled down, he cleared his throat, Officer Magnezone flanking him as he began to speak.

"I would like to thank the Impetus Town Police for granting me their protection tonight, for this is an urgent situation. This is not an easy announcement to give, though by order of the Societies, I bring you these news," he said. "This announcement comes from Froslass's Guild in Ebbull City. As you likely know, Ebbull City is sacred to many, for it is the closest habitable area to the Coronet peaks, and the Dialgite Temple is the center of this significance," he said, pausing for a moment. "It is with the heaviest of hearts that I announce the Temple has been attacked."

He paused as just about every Pokémon in the hall stood up as one, loudly clamoring questions as Magnezone yelled for quiet. As the noise simmered down once more, Arcanine continued.

"An undisclosed sacred artifact was taken from the temple, and many were killed in the attack, tragically including my old friend Guildmaster Froslass," he said, his voice becoming quieter as he said this. "We do not know who committed this crime, but the perpetrator appears to have been a Psychic-type. Authorities were able to lock onto their psychic signature before they teleported away, and it appears their base of operations is here in Gray Proper."

Another round of loud questioning assaulted my ears before he continued.

"Although we are an exploratory Guild, all of you are encouraged to stay watchful, for whoever did this is still at large. Most events, including the annual Guild painting, are to be postponed as to allow for better focus on this crisis. Anyone with information about the perpetrator is to contact the Impetus Town Police, as unannounced entry into my quarters is now prohibited until further notice. To anyone here of Dialgite faith, I give my deepest condolences. I wish you all the best in whatever is to come of this. Forever forward," he finished. A few Pokémon yelled back the motto. A few halfheartedly said it back. Most remained in stunned silence.

As the Magnetons escorted Arcanine out the door, Rye and I scrambled to our feet, our food forgotten. As we bolted out into the night, Officer Magnezone floated out in front of us.

"Interrogative: What are you doing?" he demanded.

"W-we need to talk to Mr. Arcanine!" Rye gasped, trying to push past him. Magnezone's red eye glowed slightly as he pushed the Treecko back.

"Statement: Due to the existing threat, the Guildmaster is not to be interacted with without proper clearance as to ensure his safety. Imperative: Please step away," he said. As Rye shrunk back, I tried to follow, only for Magnezone to put a magnet-arm in my way.

"Insistence: I do not wish to harm you, Oshawott. Please do not attempt to follow the Guildmaster," he said. I looked past the officer, watching Arcanine's golden shape disappear into his quarters as the Magnetons watched. Seeing this, I sighed in defeat, stepping back as the glow of Magnezone's eye softened.

"Statement: Thank you for cooperating. Continue with your good work, your work in Bassa Village has not been forgotten. Good day," he said.

"Sh-sha," I said dryly as the sheriff turned and left to meet the Magnetons up the hill. I stood at a loss as I stared after him. Whatever had happened had apparently been significant enough for me to even hear about from continents away, and I wasn't even allowed to talk to my best chance at answers? I was at a loss at this point, I didn't know what to do. I had no idea what was happening, what I was supposed to go about doing, and-

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"B-Beck... I don't know exactly what's going on, and I know I'm not gonna be much help, but... I'll be here. N-no matter what ends up happening, I-I'll try to stick around to the end," Rye said shakily. I looked up at him.

"Reh-leh?" I said. Rye gave a nervous grin.

"T-till the fat Slowking sings," he said. I thought about this for a bit before giving him a weak smile.

"T-tanks," I said.

Rye swallowed hard, but kept his hand resting on my shoulder as I stole a final look towards Arcanine's quarters. Even if the Guildmaster wasn't an option, Rye's gesture even in the face of whatever was coming was touching. I knew he would much rather not act on his promise, but he had anyways. That alone was just enough to egg me on. While I was uncertain about whatever was coming, I at least had someone willing to follow me through the jaws of death.

As the stars shone down on the two of us, I found resolve through the stress and fear weighing me down. For a bit, I wholeheartedly believed that I would avenge that Froslass when the time came.

I didn't know how I, a mere Oshawott currently lacking a scalchop, would be able to act on that, but I'd hopefully be able to figure it out.


	32. Class in Session

"...interrogative: You say this Xatu was responsible for the attack?" the Magnemite before us asked dubiously.

"Y-yes, sir," Rye stammered. The Magnemite stared at us with its unblinking eye before looking back down to write as we stood there, minding the occasional Magneton floating past. After Arcanine's announcement last night, we'd figured that the best course of action would be to do what we could to help, so with the Guildmaster unavailable, we'd gone to the small police station in town to report what we knew. I watched eagerly as the Magnemite scribbled down our info on a piece of parchment with a pen stuck onto one of its magnets. I had been confused as to how it was doing this with no fingers, though a closer look showed it was wrapped in some sort of metal which I guessed was magnetic, thus sticking to the oversized magnets it called its arms. As the Magnemite finished writing, it looked back up at us.

"Statement: This could be quite useful, though I must ask about the source of this information," it said. Rye and I froze and gave a collective gulp. Surely we weren't about to tell it that-

"Uh, m-my friend here had a vision in his sleep," Rye said.

Damn it.

Magnemite paused for a second, blinking once or twice.

"Interrogative: You mean a dream?" it eventually asked.

"N-no, it, er..." Rye trailed off. Magnemite made a buzzing noise I guessed was its equivalent to a sigh.

"Inquisitive: Your source of this info was a dream?" it demanded. Rye made a weak squeak, prompting Magnemite to let out a monotone groan. We watched helplessly as it dropped its pen and brushed aside the parchment our scoop was on, then levitated up to look at the line behind us.

"Instruction: Next!" it yelled over our heads.

"Wait, please, h-hear us out!" Rye pleaded.

"ZZT! Imperative: Leave," Magnemite demanded, its magnets beginning to spark with annoyance. Yelping at this, Rye stumbled out of line, and as the few Pokemon in the station with us watched curiously, we hurried out onto the town streets. As we panted and looked back at the dingy little police station, I sighed.

"Shaagh," I groaned disappointedly. Rye bit his lip as he led me back towards town square.

"Yeah, I guess I forgot to account for the dream thing. Guess the Mags won't be much help," he mused. "So what now?"

"Uh... d-dunneh, wait?" I suggested.

"What? B-but... ugh, I guess. But what if something goes wrong?" he asked.

"Is okeh," I reassured him. Rye considered before giving a shaky nod.

"S-so you think waiting's a good idea. How long do you think it'll take, though? A moon?" he asked.

"Dunneh," I replied. Rye gave another nod before perking up a bit.

"Hey, uh, that reminds me. It's been a moon since we met today," he said.

"Wha?" I asked.

"I-I found you on the 15th of Rayquaza's Moon, and now it's the 15th of Kyogre's," Rye explained, giving a little grin to himself. "It's weird. Feels like it's been longer, y'know? You learned to speak and... uh, be a Pokemon, and I managed to heal a bit. A lot's changed, who knows where we'll be in another moon."

As Rye pondered, I took to trying to make sense of this calendar.

_'Rayquaza's Moon? Kyogre's? What... oh, forget it.'_

Pushing this thought back, I followed Rye into the town square, where Pokemon still quickly shuffled past going about their routines, though they seemed quieter and more cautious than usual. I could only guess that the news of the attack on the Dialgite Temple had been broken here, and the idea of the perpetrator being in these lands had clearly gotten the town worried.

Minding the wary Raichu family as we passed, we started on the road towards the Guild's gate, only for Rye to stop short as he noticed someone stumbling along the square.

"Mr. Arden?" he asked. The Quilava turned his head to face us, making me instinctively recoil. When I'd last met him in the mess hall, nothing screamed off about him, though as he turned and looked us over with his bloodshot eyes and messy fur, I wasn't quite sure what to make of his presence.

"Ah, you two. Been looking for you, actually," he said tiredly.

"Mr. Arden... y-you look... uh..." Rye said hesitantly.

"Like shit? Gee, thanks, you don't look too hot either, kid," Arden rebutted, pointing to the scrapes and bruises still lingering on Rye's body. "Anyways, I've been meaning to... eugh, to ask you something," he continued between a yawn.

"D-do you need a favor, sir? We can-" Rye started.

"No, no. I, uh, wanted to invite you two over to our base. You know, train, have a laugh, the usual," Arden said. Rye cocked his head.

"Huh? Why?" he asked. Arden blinked hard.

"Er, well... you're a rookie team, and you used to be under our care, y'know? Uh, we heard about what happened in the desert and Scoria Cave, and I wanted to see if we couldn't help y'all out," he said. I gave him a dubious look, though after Rye considered for a moment, he looked back up at the Quilava.

"A-alright. I did need to see Ms. May anyways," he said. Arden's expression brightened as he gestured us on.

"Wait, we're going right now?" Rye asked.

"Yeah, not like we have anything better to do. The Guild painting got rescheduled, no thanks to... uh, you know, and there's nothing on the schedule for today," Arden said. "Come on, it'll be better than going headfirst into generic forest dungeon number fifty-four to escort some random 'mon you've never met. Trust me, I know."

Sighing and nodding, Rye ran up to walk alongside Arden. Left with no other choice, I hurriedly waddled up to join him. Glancing over, I couldn't help but keep worrying about Arden's state. Even walking on all fours, he was stumbling a bit, something Rye noticed as we left the town proper.

"M-Mr. Arden? You okay?" he asked concernedly.

"Yeah, kid, just... haven't gotten much sleep the past couple nights," Arden responded before narrowing his eyes. "Can't for the life of me tell why," he added, just a hint of spiteful sarcasm in his voice. Rye pursed his lips before leaning in towards me.

"I think something's wrong. Mr. Arden isn't usually this... er, generous," he whispered.

"Heard that. Up yours," Arden snapped back.

As we nervously followed the Quilava up an unassuming road, we passed several large buildings, many of which had a number of Pokemon filing in and out. Seeing as a good few of them were evolved, I could assume this was a sort of area for stronger teams. Before long, we turned towards one of them and walked into the two-story building.

As soon as we passed through the door, I saw several Pokemon panickedly drop whatever they were doing and scramble to their feet to face Arden.

"S-sir! Uh, w-we were just-" a Ralts began.

"Save it, kid. Where's May at?" Arden asked. As if on cue, May leaned her head into the room.

"Hey, you got the medicine from Audino, right?" she asked.

"May, I told you, I don't need her Ekans oil. Besides, she was busy, though I did run into these two in town. They said they wanted some tips," Arden said, nudging the two of us towards the Leafeon.

"Er, hey," I said awkwardly. May gave Arden a concerned look.

"Ardie, you... we have jobs to attend to..." she sighed before looking towards us once more. After a minute, she nodded.

"Alright, Rye can come with me, you take Beck," she said, gesturing Rye over. Arden bit his lip, but didn't complain as May led my friend out back. Now alone with the Quilava, I looked up at him as he thought for a bit.

"They're probably gonna be using the yard, so how's the front sound?" he offered.

"Er, a-ah-keh," I said nervously. Arden promptly gave a clearly forced grin and clapped his paws, making me flinch.

"Alright, lemme just..." he muttered as he headed down into a sawed-out square hole in the floor. With not much else to do, I followed him in. The basement was as I had expected: cramped, a little damp, and filled to the brim with seemingly random stuff. As Arden hunched down to search through a section of shelves, I took a minute to look through the nearest section, where the shelf was haphazardly stacked with various orbs. While Rye had mentioned that there was a way to tell seeds apart, these literally all looked the same. I wasn't sure how anyone could tell these apart, though as I gave one an experimental poke, I felt a small jolt of energy shoot through me, followed by a very brief migraine.

_'This is a Petrify Orb. ...wait, what? Did the orb just do that?'_

Well, that explained that, I guess.

Now curious, I started poking at the other orbs on the shelf.

_'Radar, Totter, Decoy... damn, what do half of these even do? Scanner, Slumber, Escape... huh?'_

I paused over one of the orbs. I hadn't received any sort of jolt from it. No info, no migraine, nothing. However, putting my paw back on it, I could still feel some sort of power coursing through it, so surely it wasn't useless.

...come to think of it, that power felt familiar somehow...

"HEY! No!" Arden yelled, snatching the orb away from the shelf. "We do not touch the dud orb!"

"Wh-what?" I asked. Arden held the strange orb gingerly in his paws.

"This thing is special in that it doesn't do shit. Believe me, we tried. We respect it for trying its best, so we do _not fucking touch the dud orb,_ " he said, putting the orb on a higher shelf so I couldn't reach it.

"Er, sorry," I said. Arden sighed and picked up a small sack, stumbling over to the ladder out.

As he pulled me up out of the basement, a familiar Swellow walked in popping some strange food into his beak. He cast a quick glance towards me and continued on his way before seizing up, choking on whatever was in his mouth. As Pike coughed violently, Arden's eyes widened as he swore under his breath, quickly dropped his sack, and ran over to attend to him. A few presses to the chest later, Pike spit a glob of ick onto the floor, panting as Arden propped him up.

"You good?" the Quilava asked.

"Y-yeah, but-" Pike began.

"So can we agree not to eat roasted Kricketot in the living room now?" Arden asked half-seriously. Pike didn't answer, as he only sent me a glare.

"What's it doing in here?" he asked, pointing a wing at me. Arden gave an annoyed sigh as he walked over to put a paw on my head.

"He's here for training, he's not going to get in your way," he said matter-of-factly, as if he had already had this conversation. Pike's eye twitched.

"Okay, just... no. I admit, we'd prolly have been washed out at the river without him, but that does not mean I'm 'bout to roost with it, hold talons, and sing Kumbaya! I ain't letting it get anywhere near our shit so it can just-"

"Pike, just... ugh, it's been a moon since he turned up, if he hasn't eaten Rye's face by now, we'll be fine," Arden groaned. "I'll make sure he doesn't shit on the floor, alright?"

Pike considered for a moment before begrudgingly nodding. In response, Arden picked up the discarded sack and headed for the door. Watching him go, Pike leaned towards me.

"What I said back at Brine's still stands. Rest one claw on any of my friends, and... shouldn't need to explain. After all, you're smart enough to understand, ain'tcha?" he growled quietly.

Now, I'd learned and grown a decent bit since he'd made that threat. Rather than shrink back in fear as I had those weeks ago, I gulped back my fear at this renewed threat and stood my ground, looking him in the eye. We continued this staredown for a few seconds until Arden called for me from outside. Giving Pike one last look, I started for the door, sticking my tongue out at him as I looked back. He responded with an audible growl as I stepped into the sunlight.

My mood sufficiently soured, I followed Arden, hoping that whatever advice he was going to give me would be worth it.

* * *

The sun shone down brightly as it climbed into the sky, rejuvenating Rye and May as they took a moment to bask. Stretching her legs as she sighed contentedly, May turned to look Rye in the eye. Happily noting that the Treecko now looked back rather than averting his gaze as he had once done, she looked towards the vibrantly green yard. While not large by any means, it was enough for at least a recreational battle between the apprentices: a perfect place for one-on-one training.

"Nice day out," she commented.

"Y-yeah," Rye said quietly. After quietly sitting for a minute, May stepped out onto the grass, watching as Rye hurried to follow.

"Right, so have you learned any techniques since we last talked?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am, at Basculin Strait," Rye said.

"Ah, which one?" May inquired.

"Er... D-Dragon Breath."

May's brow furrowed as she gave Rye a confused look.

"You said...?" she asked. Rye nodded, shifting in place as May gave him a doubtful look.

"Hm... do one for me here, let me see if it's not some other technique," she instructed, stepping back to give Rye some space. Rather than give a demonstration, Rye shook his head.

"I-I can't, ma'am. I don't know how I did it the first time, and I... I kinda lost control when I did it. I really don't want that to happen again," he said. May gave a hum.

"Well, er... Dragon-type energy's usually controlled by emotion. Were you upset when you used it?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am. We were fighting a Seismitoad, Beck took a hit for me, and I just... yeah," Rye said.

"That's it, then. I... uh, guess that really was Dragon Breath. Weird for a Treecko to know it, but I guess..." May concluded before walking to the center of the yard. "What you wanna do is learn to control it. Let's start with actually doing it, alright?"

"Y-yes, ma'am," Rye said nervously. As he stepped onto the grass to face May, his foot suddenly slipped, causing him to fall to the ground. As he pulled his face out of the grass, he felt something unwrap from around his leg, which revealed itself as a vine. Knowing there was only one Pokemon here who was able to do this, he sent a glare at May, who watched him expectantly.

"Wh-what was that for?" he demanded.

"Just to get you in the mood," May said. "Now try and let a Dragon Breath out."

"I-I told you, I can't!" Rye said.

"Come on, picture the power of Regidrago itself flowing through you!" May encouraged him.

"Who?" he asked. May gave him a deadpan look before seemingly coming up with an idea.

"Alright, just try to think of something that pisses you off! Y'know, someone who bullied you as a hatchling... oh, maybe your parents or-"

Rye's face twitched. Suddenly, May's words were cut off as a plume of indigo flames erupted from the Treecko's mouth. As they cleared, the Treecko's thoughts cleared just in time for him to behold the grass smoking before him while May watched him, seemingly impressed.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" Rye pleaded, only for May to give him a beaming smile.

"Sorry? That was damn impressive! All you have to do now is learn to do it at will!" she piped. Rye stood there for a moment before giving hanging his head.

"Hey, what's wrong? Did I-" May started before freezing up. Her eyes widened with realization before she hurriedly walked up to console Rye.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up your folks. I thought about what makes me mad, I thought my parents, and..." she said softly. Rye looked up at her.

"I-it's okay. Just... I-I don't think mine ever forgave me for what happened with Dill. They always said they had my back afterwards, but... I-I..." he choked out. May put a paw on his shoulder.

"It's okay. We're here for you. Me, Arden, Pike, heck, I'm sure even Beck's doing his part," she reassured him. Rye kept his gaze on the ground for a moment before sighing.

"Y-you wanna talk about it? Uh, y-your parents?" Rye asked. May's look became stern, though this quickly melted away as she thought for a while.

"...I had nothing before I found Arden. I had always thought they loved me for who I was, but... surprise, surprise, at any given time, I was either their blank slate to imprint on or just playing second banana. I knew my life wouldn't turn out well, but... you know I just rolled with it, thought I'd grow out of it. Then Arden happened," she reminisced. "We fixed him up, had a couple misadventures once he could get on his feet, but he kept drilling at me, you know? Tried to talk some sense into me, get it through my skull that I was my own Pokemon. Wasn't long after he left for the next town over that I took his word for it, told my folks to fuck off forever, and followed him. 'Course, they beat the everliving shit out of me for it, so Ardie carried me till he found some help. Lo and behold, it was from Walrein's Guild, so they took us in and... well, y'know."

Rye nodded, looking down as he considered May's story. After a moment of silence, she took a look at Rye.

"How 'bout yours?" she asked quietly.

"Well, uh... th-they were basically just... uh, Sceptiles. You know, calm, protective, really liked... uh, g-gardening, I guess. Nothing off about them, I think. They always drilled me on being careful around the mountain, but..."

May waited as he tried to regain his composure. Before long, he started talking again.

"After what happened, I don't think they really knew what to do next. Th-then once Sinni told me off and everyone sorta stopped talking to me, they said they had my back, but... I always got the feeling they never really forgave me. They didn't really stop me once I started shutting myself in, and... I-I don't think I'll ever know what they did when I ran off. I... yeah."

May gave Rye a long sympathetic look as he stared into space.

"Rye, I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" she began.

"It's okay, really," he said, giving a weak smile. "Besides, I'm in the right mindset for Dragon Breath now, might as well try to use that, huh?"

May's ears pricked up, though she stepped back as Rye concentrated, soon releasing another jet of blue flames. Despite the negativity that was required for novices to pull this technique off, Rye couldn't help but note something lingering within him. Closure? Hope? Resolve? He wasn't sure, but he was happy to know he was improving in more than one way here.

As he slowly began to understand the strange technique, he couldn't help but wonder how Beck was doing. If May had managed to teach him this much, then Rye was quite excited to see how Beck would do under Arden's watch.

* * *

A familiar plume of purple-blue flames shot up from behind the base as I watched Arden dig through the sack he had brought out. As I watched the flames dissipate, I heard May's voice give out praises as Rye gave a small whoop. Arden looked up briefly to listen to the commotion.

"Hm. You've really left an impact on the kid, haven't you?" he asked.

"Huh?" I asked. Arden gave a yawn, then blinked tiredly as he continued.

"W-well, he wouldn't even talk to us outside of training a month back. It's, uh, nice to see he's getting better," he said.

"Yeah," I said. An awkward silence hung in the air as we stood there, though Arden chose to break it by picking up his sack again, talking as he dug through it.

"So, kid, let me make this clear real quick. Uh, you're an explorer now, and exploration is a tough job. If you're anything like us, you're gonna run into some fucked-up shit eventually," he said, pausing to look me dead in the eye. "My guess is once that shit rears its head, you won't be able to run. You're gonna have to stand your ground, face it head on, and fight like there's only one chair left in musical chairs and the music's about to stop."

"Wh-wha?" I asked. Arden didn't elaborate on this strange analogy, but rather pulled a handful of colorful fragments out of the sack. Swearing under his breath, he poured the sack's contents onto the ground, only producing more of the technicolor dust. He let out a loud groan.

"For fuck's sake, Snom!" he yelled. His back beginning to flame from agitation, he muttered to himself for a minute before looking up at me.

"Right, so gummis are out of the question. It's fine, we don't need them, just... okay," he sighed, getting up and stepping back. "Maybe we can work on your techniques? What do you know?"

"Uh... sh-sha," I tried to remind him as I pointed at my throat. His face fell.

"Right, that... okay, okay! Uh, we can still work with this! Um... try to relax. Feel the sun burning down on you and take a deep breath. A good flow of oxygen is crucial for your ember to... wait."

Looking down at his paws, he sighed.

"Arden, you retard," he muttered. "Okay, er, I don't think I can really help with techniques, either. Uh, y'know, fire and water, they don't mix," he said, starting to stand up straight as I watched him, unsure of what to think. "Er, fire's wild and uncontrollable. There isn't much that can contain an open flame, and it'll consume you if you aren't careful. Water, on the other hand, it respects the boundaries it sets, it flows in a predictable manner, if handled correctly it'll bring its wielder life, and you aren't listening to a thing I'm saying, are you?" he lectured. I gave an insistent nod to affirm my attention, though as the Quilava stood back up straight, his brow furrowed.

"...er, forgot where I was going with that. Look, the point is our types are too different, and the most I know about Water-typing is from the wet boys I've talked to. I can't really help you out here," he said flatly. As he turned around to contemplate, I gaped. _This_ was the Pokemon that had saved the world? I wasn't about to say he hadn't done squat, but I was certainly starting to have some doubts.

As Arden thought, his eyes started to droop shut, though they quickly snapped open.

"Hey, kid, you alright with attacking me?" he asked.

"What?" I asked.

"It's the easiest option I've got here. Use everything you know on me and I'll see if I can figure out something from there, alright?"

A million questions and protests raced through my head, though I settled on one and pointed to where my scalchop would have been. Arden cocked his head.

"Oh, your shell... uh, j-just show me what you can do without it, yeah?" he requested. Shooting him a flat look, I sighed and fired off a Water Gun towards his chest. The next few minutes saw me using every little trick I had learned over the past month against the Quilava, from simple Tackles to high-pressure Water Guns, though despite flinching several times, Arden remained standing upright on his hind legs. By the time I paused to take a break, he was visibly swaying in place, though he didn't seem to acknowledge this as he stared at me.

"That's it? You've had a moon, and this is all you can pull off? Okay, shit, uh..."

He suddenly perked up as he grabbed for a rock on the ground.

"Hah, alright, j-just throw this at my head as hard as you can! Any adventurer worth their salt can knock someone out with a Gravelerock!" he insisted as he shoved the rock into my paws, his voice ridden with what almost sounded like desperation.

"S-sehr?" I asked concernedly.

"Throw the rock, please!" Arden insisted.

"Sir!"

"I said throw the damn rock!"

With no other choice, I bit my tongue and chucked the rock towards Arden. Despite the force I'd put into it, it simply bounced off his head, only leaving a little welt as it fell to the ground. He stayed there for a minute, frozen in place until he put his arms down, sighing.

"What am I doing?" he groaned. "I can't do this. I... I'm sorry, kid. I... I can't do a damn thing about this shit..."

His previous bravado extinguished, Arden dragged his paws back into the base, quietly talking to himself all the while. Unsure of what to make of this, I followed until he collapsed against the wall of the living room. May and Rye had already come back inside, and whatever pleasant conversation they were likely having had gone to the wind as they gaped at Arden's pitiful state.

"Wh-what happened?" May asked. Arden didn't answer, only turning his head away as the Leafeon sighed, heading to some other room.

"Ardie, look. I don't know what's going on with you, but you've gotta understand. Whatever's got you down, you shouldn't let it drag you deeper," she said from inside.

"Great, we've reached the part where everyone starts talking like fortune cookies," Arden groaned as May walked back in, a cup between her jaws.

"At least get some sleep, you haven't slept in three days," she said between her teeth.

"I'm fine, just... ugh..." Arden said. Sighing, May set the cup down in front of him.

"Alright, at least drink this, water should make you feel better," she said. As Rye and I watched, Arden gratefully nodded and took the cup, downing it quickly. As he put it down, his expression became one of confusion.

"Why does it taste... ugh. C-can't believe I fell for that again," he muttered before slumping against the wall. With his last ounce of energy, Arden stuck a middle digit up before falling sideways onto the floor.

"M-Mr. Arden!" Rye yelped.

"He's fine, just a ground-up Sleep seed is all. Cresselia knows he needs it," May said.

"I-is he alright? What's wrong with him?" Rye asked. May clenched her teeth.

"I... I don't know. He's been stressing out over something the past two weeks, and all I know is that it's Guild business. We're all getting worried," she explained. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

"Huh? N-no, ma'am, this is the first I've heard of it," Rye said. May hummed, then gave the sleeping Arden a forlorn look.

"Alright, then. Sorry for all the trouble, you can go if you want. Pike and I'll lug him to his bed," she said.

"A-are you sure?" Rye asked.

"Yeah, just go on. You two can come back if you need advice in the future, we're pretty good at it when he's not being an ass," May replied.

With that, she turned and left the room, calling out for Pike. Giving Arden one last concerned look, Rye made for the exit, an action which I gratefully followed.

* * *

"So... I'm guessing the lesson with Mr. Arden didn't go well?" Rye asked.

"Ugh, neh," I said. Our walk home had been graced with silence, and it had taken a good while of sitting on our beds for us to really process what exactly had happened back at Team Apex's base. However, it seemed Rye had a lot more to say than I did.

"Well, uh, Ms. May helped me out with Dragon Breath, so I can kinda control it now. Not perfectly, but you know," he said.

"Ah," I said. I was a bit bummed; here I had the opportunity to get training from an apparent world-saver, and all he had done was make me throw a rock at him while his partner, of all Pokemon, gave out the good stuff. What kind of Tauros-shit was this?

"S-so you wanna take a job today? Maybe a quick dive'll help get your mind off it," Rye offered.

"Eugh, yeah," I groaned. My lack of enthusiasm seemed to get across to Rye, though as he opened his mouth to try and cheer me up, a sharp rapping sounded at the door. Looking over, I found a Noctowl carrying a bag of mail.

"I've got mail for, uh, Team Reach?" he said.

"Yeah, that's us," Rye said. "Hey, aren't you that same Noctowl that interviewed us?"

"Yep. Nice seeing you," Noctowl said, handing a couple of letters before abruptly flying off, leaving Rye to read off them.

"Alright, uh, this one's yours, Beck. I guess that's your new badge," he said, shaking it experimentally. As I took it, he read off the other one.

"Okay, this one's for me, from..."

He froze.

"...f-from Sinni?" he said. I looked up at him as he stared at the envelope.

"Heheh, Rye..." I said, unsuccessfully suppressing a smile as I raised my eyebrows. The Treecko blushed furiously.

"Beck! I told you, it's not like that!" he protested, holding the letter away from me. As he made to rip it open out of my view, a loud flapping sounded from the doorway as Noctowl came back into view.

"Hey, hey, forgot to mention. Cinccino wants you in her office as soon as possible," he said. Rye snapped his head up.

"Why?" he asked.

"Don't know. She just said team business," he explained before flying off again. Rye dropped his letter as we stared at the now empty door. After a minute, he hung his head.

"W-well, let's... yeah..." he said. I stayed frozen in place as Rye headed out the door.

_'Did she find out about the badge? Crap, what do I do?'_

As I started internally panicking, I managed to unfreeze myself and run after Rye. The brief walk to Cinccino's small office was one of horror and regret on my end, and as Rye knocked on the desk, I sucked in a breath and held it as if it would be my last. A looming silhouette appeared in the window...

"Ah, hello, you two!" Cincinno piped jovially. I pried my eyes open.

_'Wait, we're not dead yet?'_

As we stood at a loss, the receptionist beamed at us. I gave Rye a light nudge, prompting him to speak.

"A-are we in trouble, ma'am?" he asked.

"No, far from it," Cinccino said. "A Pokemon from out of town just came up asking for Guild membership, and they asked to join your team specifically!"

Our worries quickly melted away as we stepped back, surprised.

"Wh-wha?" I asked.

"He's gotten everything approved, he just needs your approval now. He's waiting in the mess hall," she said. The two of us took a moment to let this info sink in.

"W-we, uh... th-thank you," Rye said. As we turned to hurry towards the mess hall, Cinccino crossed her arms, her expression souring.

"Wait a moment," she instructed. We stopped and looked towards her, confused.

"You two do realize that team badges keep pinging even when lost, right?"

The color drained from my face as Cinccino watched us, though she sighed to break the tension.

"Despite the loss of Guild property in Littora Village, I will admit that in that act, you showed what this Guild stands for: selflessness and hospitality. The Guild commends you for that," she said begrudgingly before narrowing her eyes. "Never do that again, if you wouldn't mind."

I nodded before hurrying off, dragging Rye along with me as he let out a quick relieved chuckle.

"A-alright... w-well, that was an experience," he said.

"Yeah, sorry," I said.

"No, it's fine. Come on, let's go to the mess hall!" Rye piped. As he raced towards the building, I quickly waddled after him, though I only caught up by the time he was standing at the door.

"Okay, moment of truth, huh? Our first recruit... here's hoping he's nice, huh?" he said. I nodded, so the two of us nervously stepped into the building. Given that it was about noon, the building was entirely empty and in disarray from breakfast. Only two other Pokemon currently occupied the building, the first being Raticate as he cleaned, sniffing at the garbage as usual. The second was seated at one of the tables, and as he looked up at us, he revealed himself to be... wait, that couldn't be right.

Surely not...

"Z-Zigzagoon?" Rye asked.

Zigzagoon shifted in his seat, forcing a smile.

"Hi," he said.

_'...well, then.'_


	33. Maverick

Silence hung over the mess hall as we and Zigzagoon exchanged stares, seemingly waiting for each other to speak up. A moment passed before Rye eventually broke the silence.

"Wh-why are you here?" he asked. Zigzagoon gave him a confused look.

"Uh, the Cinccino back there didn't tell you? I've done some thinkin' since you left, and I've decided I want in on your team," he said. Rye and I gave each other a quick look.

"Alright, but... uh, why?" Rye asked.

"What? I dunno, I heard y'all talkin' about that whole temple thing, and I figured that I'd try to help," Zigzagoon tried to explain. We gave him a long stare as we thought about this for a minute. Soon enough, Zigzagoon dropped his forced grin, resting his head on the dirty table with a quiet sigh.

"Alright, I get it. You don't have to say yes, but... y'know, I'd appreciate it. I don't wanna just stay in Littora Town my whole life, especially since Pa's never home to spice it up, you know?" he said, pausing to look up at us. "Uh, I know the basics of adventurin', you know. My pa taught me the nitty-gritty, and..."

He stopped as he saw we were still considering. After a bit, his expression wilted before he hopped off the seat, slowly zigzagging his way to the door.

"Sorry to bother you," he said quietly, his voice breaking a bit.

"Wait," I said. His ears sticking up, Zigzagoon looked back, a small hopeful grin crossing his face. Seeing this, Rye leaned in towards me.

"You really want him on the team? I mean, he isn't really what I'd call trust... er, t-trustworthy," he whispered.

"Ehh. Giff shance," I said, shrugging. Rye thought about this for a second before nodding and looking back towards Zigzagoon, who watched our whispering curiously.

"Can you understand him, or...?" he asked. Rye chose to ignore this as he laced his fingers together tightly, nervously kicking his legs as he thought.

"Uh... how can... oh, what do you think you can do for the team?" he asked. Zigzagoon gave him a bemused look.

"Well, I mean, I managed to survive in the dungeon for a day before y'all showed up," he said. Rye opened his mouth to rebut, though the words caught in his throat.

"G-good point," he said after a bit, nodding to himself before leaning back in. "What do you think?" he asked me.

_'Huh, well. He did last in that dungeon pretty well. He could contribute a lot, and we honestly need all the help we can get...'_

"Yeah, sha," I said. Rye gave a quiet hum.

"Alright, you're the human here, if you think it's a good idea..." he whispered. With that, he craned his head to meet Zigzagoon's gaze.

"Okay, w-welcome aboard, I guess," the Treecko said. Zigzagoon's eyes lit up, and he quickly took to cheering and jumping in place as we watched.

"You won't regret this, I promise!" he insisted, picking a small bag off the floor. As he eagerly zigzagged towards the door, we gave each other an uncertain look and followed.

"So, uh, we never got your name," Rye said as we stepped into the sunlight. Zigzagoon opened his mouth to answer before he suddenly raised a finger.

"Oh, uh, your ma called you Ziggy, right?" he asked. Zigzagoon immediately stopped in his tracks and cringed, groaning to himself.

"No! No, that's just a stupid nickname she always uses! I've told her to quit calling me that who knows how many times, and every time I hear it I wanna claw my ears off!" he protested. We stared in silence, put off by his sudden outburst as he panted, soon calming down and... what would the term be? Er, unfloofing.

"Sorry. That happens," he said.

"S-sorry. What do you want us to call you, then?" Rye asked. Zigzagoon eyed us for a bit before clearing his throat.

"The name's Maverick. Friends call me Mavy," he said. "You?"

"Oh, I-I'm Rye," Rye said.

"Am Beck," I said, sticking my paw out for a handshake. Zigzagoon didn't accept it, only giving my outstretched paw a quizzical look as we walked. As I let my arm down, Rye straightened up.

"...s-so, uh, welcome, Mavy!" he said nervously, getting a blush from Zigzagoon.

"Come on, we just met, y'all ain't allowed to use that name just yet," he said, giving a cheeky grin. As I cracked a smile in response, we started up the path, Mavy eagerly hopping alongside us. As we turned onto the main road, he perked up.

"Oh, uh, never got to thank y'all for pullin' me outta that dungeon," he said. "Y'know, that Seismitoad was guardin' the stairs, the dungeon probably woulda gotten me if y'all hadn't showed up. Uh, thanks for that."

"R-really, it's not a problem. I mean, it's our job, so," Rye said. Mavy gave a grin.

"Heh, and now I'm in on it, I guess. I'm likin' this place so far, I'm excited to, you know, do some crimes or whatever!" he said. I gave him a confused look.

"Wha? Craims?" I asked. Mavy blinked.

"Oh, uh... sorry, I guess I've got you mixed up with feral-herders," he said. "Or do y'all call 'em cow-mon up here?"

"The cow-mon are down south, we, uh, don't have them up here," Rye said.

As Mavy gave an "ah" of understanding, we found ourselves in front of our modest base. While we had gotten used to the place, we found that Mavy took a moment to stare at it like it was made of gold. Approaching it, I couldn't help but notice him taking curious looks at seemingly normal things, such as the mail slot and the neighboring bases. As we walked in, Rye quickly picked up his letter from Sinni and stuffed it away before gesturing around.

"So, uh, this is our base. Make yourself comfy, I guess, we probably won't be going out for a job today, so... y'know, we can get you some hay for a bed later," he said.

"Thanks," Mavy said absentmindedly as he took a long look around. After a couple minutes of this, I became a bit concerned.

"Sha?" I asked. Mavy flinched, though didn't break his gaze.

"Sorry, just... been a weird week. Still a lil' weird actually being here, y'know?" he said, his eyes finally resting on one of the splintery tables on the wall, where the Iron Thorn Team Creosote had given us still sat, the dried blood and juice caking it now joined by a fine layer of dust.

"What is...?" Mavy asked concernedly.

"Er... long story," Rye answered. Casting another nervous look at the spike, Mavy set down the little bag he had been carrying and sat down, his eager face becoming more serious as he looked at us.

"Uh... can I ask you somethin'?" he asked.

"Sure, what?" Rye asked. Mavy hesitated for a moment, apparently trying to figure out what exactly to say.

"So... uh, back in Littora Town, remember how y'all were talking about the thing with the dream and the temple and-" he said, trailing off as I cringed, raising my paws in an effort to shut him up. As the Zigzagoon watched me confusedly, I relaxed, hanging my head.

"Sorry," I said, gesturing for him to continue.

"...uh, anyways. How exactly did you... like, predict that? I mean, that place is real far away, but you were talking 'bout it the night it happened. How'd you do that?" he asked. Rye gulped hard.

"H-how did you know about what happened?" he asked.

"Everyone was tellin' me about it on my way into town. So... er, you wanna give me the short version or...?" Mavy asked.

"No, I... I'm sorry, we... uh, we don't think we're quite ready to say," Rye said. Mavy's face scrunched up in suspicion as he gave us a look, though he eventually gave a disappointed nod.

"A-alright. I guess if you don't trust me..." he said, quickly eyeing us. When we didn't budge, he sat down on the ground, giving a gloomy sigh. As I watched him sulk, Rye cleared his throat quietly and led me outside. Once we were out of Mavy's sight, he put his hands on his head.

"What do we do? W-we aren't gonna tell him, are we?" he asked. I gritted my teeth.

_'Just... agh! how could've I been so stupid? If I hadn't just blurted that out...'_

With this in mind, I leaned against the base to think.

By the looks of it, Mavy was here to stay. He'd apparently gone through all the paperwork already, it wasn't like we could just turn him away at this point. Even if we could handle the bureaucratic nightmare that sending him away would cause, there was always the risk that he'd decide to tell everyone what he knew before he left. That was a risk I was sure neither I nor Rye wanted to take.

Well, there was all that and... ugh, I just didn't have the heart to send him off. He had looked so excited to just be out of his town, I couldn't just turn him away.

But if he stayed, then that'd mean he'd find out eventually one way or another. If we didn't tell him, then he could just snoop in on enough conversations to piece things together. He'd done it before, he could do it again. If we did tell him, though... I don't know, I wasn't ready to make a decision at this point. I would need more time around the Zigzagoon to see if he was trustworthy.

"Less wait," I said. Rye looked up, soon nodding a bit.

"Alright, yeah, that sounds li-uh, good," he said. With that decided, we headed back inside, warding off the Rockruff-eyes Mavy gave us as I sat down on my bed. Briefly looking at the bag where he'd hidden his letter, Rye shook his head and sat down across from me, looking over his shoulder at Mavy before leaning towards me.

"Let's try and get some writing down before dinner, alright?" he whispered.

"Yeah," I replied. As Rye dug for our trusty notebook, I heard a despondent sigh from Mavy as he curled up in place, watching us as we started the lesson. Watching as Rye scribbled down some basics to instruct me on, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the Zigzagoon. I didn't know what to do to make him feel better, though, so for now I regretfully tried to pretend he wasn't there.

"I gave up Ma's Oran stew for y'all," he muttered under his breath.

…crap. I couldn't really counter that one, could I?

* * *

We were silent as we headed back to the mess hall for dinner. As Rye and I shuffled along, Mavy dragged his paws to follow, his head hanging. He'd been like this since he'd confronted us, and by the looks of it, he hadn't gotten any better. He hadn't said much other than idle "mhms" and "aights", and at this point both of us were really concerned. Was keeping secrets from the Zigzagoon going to do more harm than good here?

Rye and I didn't know, but all we could do at this point was hope for the best.

As we stepped into the dinner line, I gave the air a quick sniff. By the smell of it, I guessed Raticate had run out of Basculin. Shame, I was actually pretty excited for-

A loud yelp rang out from behind us. Spinning around, I found a small group of Pokémon passing, one of which was currently splayed out on the ground, apparently having tripped over Mavy. It looked up to give the Zigzagoon a glare, and... ugh. Of course it was Mustie. As if this day couldn't get any worse.

"Shit, my leg. My mon, I tripped over your damn tail, don't stick it out in the road like..." he said as his Persian partner helped him up. His annoyance quickly melted off his face as he noticed us standing just behind him. A bit of looking back and forth between us later, his face grew into an ugly grin as he chortled.

"Oh-ho-ho, Garbador nuggets! Gold, you seein' this? Wimp and his pet got someone to join 'em!" he laughed in his high-pitched voice. Mavy took a step back as Rye clenched his teeth.

"J-just ignore them, they're always like this," he said to Mavy, turning his back. Despite this, the two continued.

"You know, if you have any second thoughts, you can always join our team!" Mustie said.

"Eh, if his first choice of teams was these two, then let's not," Gold added. Mavy sighed quietly.

"I ain't in the mood. Go and dick with someone else," he said. Mustie cocked his head before he continued.

"Hah, we've got a sassy one here!" he said, pausing for a minute. "Actually, what's that accent? You wild? No, no, that's a small-town drawl."

Mavy averted his gaze as Gold chuckled.

"Lemme guess, you were the best explorer in your shitty lil' village and you thought you'd become something here with the big guys. Never heard that one before," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Besides, if you think you're gonna get anywhere with Wimpy and Oshawott here, you've got something coming."

"Alright, look, we don't want any trouble with y'all, so kindly-" Mavy started.

"Ooh, small-town manners! I'm terrified!" Mustie cried in mock fear before rolling his eyes. "Face it, kid, if you're gonna stick with these little shits, you might as well just go on home. Surely whatever your mommy had you doin' was more useful than whatever you'll be doing here."

"I... y-you..." Mavy sputtered, his calm demeanor faltering. As he struggled to come up with a response, I stepped forward, my eye twitching ever so slightly.

"Feck ahf!" I demanded. The two Pokémon's faces fell as their heads snapped to look at me. After a few seconds of silence, Mustie's face returned to its signature sneer.

"Ooh, Oshawott has a poopy-mouth! Where'd he learn that one, from Quilava?" he said in a baby-voice. Looking back at an agape Mavy to briefly gesture him behind me, I shrugged.

"Neh, ah-rehd knah it," I slurred out. Mustie narrowed his eyes.

"You already knew it, eh? Well, for one, I'd assume you'd be better at, you know, basic speech after a moon, and secondly, where even...?" he asked. Gold chose this moment to crane his head up to look at Rye.

"Maybe he learned it before that dungeon got him! You think maybe Treecko up and stole someone else's old partner?" he piped. "Who knows! What do you think, Treecko?"

"I-" Rye started.

"Yeah, you might be onto something there! Hey! We found your Oshawott, whoever wants it! Dungeon ate him, but he should still be fine!" Mustie hooted loudly. As the Pokémon around us looked over annoyedly, I shook a fist at Team Assail.

"Sha, shaaah! Yeh shehh-shaah tah!" I tried to yell, only for the two to bust out laughing.

"Why you so fucked up, Oshawott?" Gold managed out as he laughed. I ground my teeth, my anger mounting. Who did these asses think they were? I wanted to tell them that they needed to just screw off, that they were pathetic for picking on us of all Pokémon, that... that...

_'Argh! If only I could just speak my mind for a minute here!'_

Before I could figure out some way to snap back at Mustie and Gold, a trio of Pokémon pushed past the line to glare at the two.

"Leave 'em alone, dickheads," Nidorino said. Team Luster gave varying reactions as I stared wide-eyed at them. Mustie crossed his arms.

"Well, what's this? Never thought Team Luster as a feral-lovin' bunch," he said. Sighing, Nidorino opened his mouth to speak before Zangoose stepped up.

"Frankly, ferals can still go die in a hole, but you know, the three of us have had enough experience with them to come to a decision. Oshawott ain't one of _them_ ," Zangoose replied. A few murmurs of agreement came from behind him as Mustie and Gold stumbled back.

"Wh... what? They do one job for your lazy asses, and you're convinced these little shits are hot shit?" Gold demanded.

"I mean, it's not hard to be hotter than Team Asslick, that's what I say," the voice of May suddenly butted in. Looking over my shoulder, I found her and a disgruntled Pike standing behind us, to which Mustie scoffed.

"Where's your mate, Leafeon?" he sneered. May narrowed her eyes.

"He's resting from his little visit to your mom last night. And we aren't mates, Quilava wouldn't want to do her like that," she rebutted.

"Real mature there," Mustie growled.

"He's your new dad, Weavile," May said, cracking a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, eat shit and die," Mustie grumbled before she continued.

"As I was about to say, do everyone here a favor and shut it. I get these two... oh, er, th-three aren't the most orthodox of teams, but it's been a moon. Yes, Treecko's a little quiet, and yes, Oshawott lived in a dungeon. That's that, but really, it doesn't matter. We're all getting used to it, and with that out of the way we can all agree they have potential. In short, we're frankly tired of hearing your crap, so if you would kindly put a scarf in it, that'd be great," she said before looking up at Pike. "What do you think, Swellow?"

Pike sat there for a minute, alternating his gaze between me, Mustie, and May. Eventually, he gave a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, agreed," he mumbled. May gave Mustie and Gold a smug look as they stood there at a loss. A minute passed before they both sent the three of us a glare.

"You better watch yourselves," Mustie snapped before the two stormed off. As the Pokémon around returned to waiting in line, Nidorino walked over to face us.

"Those two, am I right? Seems like there's always one of _those_ teams in every Guild," he said.

"Y... wh... w-why'd you stand up for us like that?" Rye asked.

"Well, I mean, we can't have our fellow minions getting pushed around, am I right?" Zangoose asked. Raboot gave a quiet nod from behind as Nidorino scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, that, and well... we'll be heading out to scale Mount Twist tomorrow, so you know, just a little parting favor," he said. As Rye gave an awkward nod, I watched Team Assail disappear behind a corner, which prompted May to walk up from behind to examine a still-quiet Mavy.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, er, n-name's Zigzagoon. Just joined this morning," Mavy replied. May gave him a light grin.

"Well, welcome aboard, kid," she said. As Mavy weakly smiled in response, I coughed quietly.

"T-tanks," I said. As May and Nidorino gave their respective smiles and nods and turned to leave, Rye shifted in place.

"Uh, did... Ms. May, d-did you really mean what you said?" he asked. May paused to look back.

"Not really. Ardie has standards, you know," she replied, giving a quick wink. As Pike shot me a wary look, the two headed to the end of the line, leaving us to shuffle along as it started moving. Before long, we found ourselves at our usual spot, only now Mavy sat next to me as he poked at his food. As we ate, he blinked hard and bent down to dig through his little bag.

"Hey, uh, I just... thanks for sticking out for me back there," he said as he searched.

"Hm? Oh, i-it's fine. We're teammates, right? We look out for each other," Rye said. Mavy didn't reply for a bit, only speaking once he sat back up, placing down colorful lumps one at a time.

"I brought gummis," he said. We paused to look at him as he ran a paw through them, soon grabbing an orange one. Rye cocked his head.

"Y-you're a Normal-type, that's for Fighting-types," he said worriedly. Mavy smirked.

"I know," he said. "Pa and I just got bored o' the white ones and decided to try these out, you know?"

"But that's..." Rye trailed off.

"I know, I know. Just a bit of weird bondin' we did back then," Mavy said. I watched him as he started psyching himself up to pop the thing in his mouth, eventually giving a shrug.

"Hey, Rye. Dare yeh," I said, grabbing a green gummi out of the pile. Rye gave me a brief bewildered look, though put on an about face as I grinned at him.

"Alright, you're on. Maybe if I throw up, you, uh... you get first pickings on tomorrow's job?" he offered.

"Yeah," I agreed. As Rye picked a blue one out, Mavy thrust his paw out, still clutching the gummi.

"Here's to... uh... my pa, here's to making him proud! And to cooperation!" he declared, shifting his gaze to us. Rye held his own gummi out, giving Mavy a reassuring smile.

"We'll tell you eventually, I hope," he said.

"Yeh!" I said, holding out my paw. With that, we popped the gummis into our mouths in unison.

It only took fifteen seconds for Rye to end up hunched over gagging. While he did this, I leaned on the table and tried my hardest to keep my composure. The taste of what I'd imagine lawn shavings and Herdier shit to taste like assaulted my tongue as tears instinctively formed in my eyes. Forcing the horrid thing down my throat, I took notice of Mavy on the floor, much in the same state as us. However, through his scrunched-up face, a nostalgic smile graced his muzzle. I couldn't help but give my own little grin at the sight, mulling over what I'd seen from him to distract myself from the practical bioweapon in my mouth.

_'Maybe having Mavy on board won't be so bad. It'll be... ahem, interesting, sure, but really, what else is new?'_

My thoughts were cut short as I heard Rye finally puke his gummi out. Slumping onto the table, he gave a weak laugh, one all three of us shared as the Pokémon at the tables around us stared at our splayed-out forms in horror.


	34. Highway Robbery

"Aight, first real dungeon dive. Hoo, mon," Mavy said quietly to himself as he zigzagged after us. Squinting in the morning sunlight, Rye and I looked back towards him.

"You nervous?" Rye asked. Mavy snorted.

"Course not. Pa drilled me on the basics, I'd say I'm ready. Besides, I'm four, I'm basically an adult. So long as Ben here picks out a decent one, I'll be fine," he said. I gave him a look over my shoulder.

"Is Beck," I said.

"Right, yeah, my bad," Mavy replied. As we tiredly hobbled towards the boards, I couldn't help but feel nervous about the day to come. Going into a dungeon without my scalchop was an intimidating prospect at best, and my performance against Arden yesterday didn't exactly reassure me.

_'You've had a moon and this is all you can pull off, he said. Yeah, thanks for the motivation, sir._

_...I'm probably gonna die.'_

With this in mind, I clenched my teeth as Mavy jumped in place impatiently.

"Come on, they're probably gonna run out if we don't hurry!" he demanded. Rye shot him a confused look.

"Huh? What do you mean 'run out?'" he asked.

"I mean, there's only so many jobs on listing, right?" Mavy asked. Rye stared at him as if he had just proclaimed the earth was a cube.

"...I, uh, I don't think that's, er, gonna be a-an issue," he soon said.

"What do you..." Mavy began before we turned the corner, bringing the boards' plaza into sight. Seeing the hundreds of jobs tacked onto the mission board alone, Mavy stumbled back a bit.

"Oh," he simply said. As he took a moment to look around at the apparently alien sights, Rye and I stepped up to the boards as per usual.

"Well, I lost that bet last night, so, uh, y-you pick, I guess. Tear one off and I'll read it for you," the Treecko said. At a loss, I stared at the papers fluttering in the light breeze. Without a bit of training to make up for my lost weapon, I wasn't exactly confident in tackling any of these.

_'Well, Beck, which pile of crap looks the most appetizing?'_

I made ready to pull one of the notices off at random, though I was suddenly pushed aside by a passing Pokemon.

"Agh! Hey!" I demanded angrily. The offending Delcatty stopped to look over her shoulder.

"Sorry. I was just leaving. Certain someone couldn't be bothered to do community service, so yeah, ain't that nice," she said. As she huffed and tromped off, an idea popped up in my head.

_'Wait, if I can choose what we're doing today...'_

"Hey!" I called after her. "I, eh, shaa-waa..."

As Delcatty watched me confusedly, I let out a quiet cry of frustration while Rye stepped up beside me.

"What are you... uh, you want to do this, or...?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. Rye nodded and looked up at Delcatty prompting her to straighten up.

"Okay, uhm... we need someone to go and help Alakazam out with a shipment coming in. It means orbs for him and the Kecleons, and by extension the Guild, so this is important, to say the least," she said.

"Mr. Alakazam? Okay, but wh-what about our job today?" Rye asked, gesturing to the board.

"I'm one of the Guildmaster's assistants, he'll understand," Delcatty replied. As Rye hung his head in thought, Mavy finally caught up to us.

"Uh, what's goin' on here?" he asked. Rye looked up at me, prompting a silent agreement between us.

"We were just about to go and help Mr. Alakazam out," he said. Delcatty's face brightened.

"Great! I will straighten things out with Cinccino while you head on over," she said before heading off. As Rye and I started up the road, Mavy looked back towards the boards before zigzagging after us, confused.

"What about the dive?" he asked.

"We aren't going on one today," Rye said. Mavy blinked, then hung his head.

"Aw... I was really lookin' forward to that, though," he sighed. Rye gave him a sympathetic look.

"D-don't worry, we'll go on one tomorrow. It's just..." he said.

"Nah, it's fine. If it's what Bill picked, then I won't complain," Mavy said. Rye's reassuring smile shrunk a bit.

"I-it's Beck," he corrected.

"Yeah, sorry," Mavy said as the three of us headed out the Guild's gates. "So who exactly is this Alakazam?"

"Um... well, he makes the Guild its badges and orbs, basically. He has a shop up by the river on Riverside Road where he sells them and, uh, does psychic... th-things. S-sorry, don't know how to describe it," Rye explained.

As we walked through town, I took a look around, noticing a lot of the gloom from the previous day had passed, though a few paranoid glances were now cast our way as we passed. Nothing out of the ordinary, of course, though I got the feeling that the feral thing wasn't entirely to blame.

I have no clue what they thought we had to do with what had been happening, but anyways.

Before long, we stopped in front of a dingy shop out by the river. Its exterior was well-worn, probably from the humidity coming from the water behind it, and all of its windows were draped shut, giving off a very potent 'haunted abandoned building' vibe.

"Er... sha?" I asked uncertainly, gesturing to the more appealing buildings down the street.

"Yeah, this is it, just by Cramorant's fish shop," Rye said. Gulping down my uncertainty, I followed the Treecko into the building, Mavy following close behind.

As soon as I pushed past the cloth over the entrance, I was hit with a sickeningly strong smell that almost immediately overwhelmed my senses, leaving Mavy and I coughing violently as Rye held his breath, waiting nervously. As I managed to regain my composure, I took a look around. Paired with the stench of incense that hung in the air, the various cloths and charms hanging from the ceiling and walls made the place indistinguishable from what I would have expected from a human psychic's place, the only difference being the orbs, odd items, and other such merchandise arranged neatly on the rows of tables around us.

As I fought off dizziness from the incense, a curtain at the back of the room suddenly flew open.

"My apologies, I was expecting a knock," a deep, flowy voice said from inside. "I sense new presences. Please excuse the incense, for it is to clear the mind. After all..."

As we watched, a tall Pokemon hobbled out of the room, looking over us with not even a twitch in his face.

"...the mind flows best when it is at peace," Alakazam said. Rye finally let out his held breath and opened his mouth to speak, though Alakazam held up a hand to stop him.

"You are Team Reach. You come to act as the incoming shipment's escorts," he said. Mavy gave a dubious look.

"Okay, how're you doin' that? He didn't even get to speak, how'd you know that... d-did that Delcatty get here before us?" he asked. Alakazam gave him a humored look.

"You come from Littora Village. A town where knowledge is little, if I remember correctly. I understand your confusion, Zigzagoon. See, your minds speak for you, and as a psychic, I have the means to listen," he explained. Mavy shuddered.

"O-okay, now that's just creepy. You, like, readin' my mind?" he asked.

"If you wish to put it that way," Alakazam said before blinking. "Now, then. Just under a week ago, a shipment of blank orbs disappeared whilst on route from Pelipper's port. Given recent events, I have no doubt it will happen again. I request that you escort the replacement shipment as to make sure it too does not fall into the wrong paws," he explained.

"Y-yes, sir, we can do that," Rye said. Alakazam nodded.

"Very good. I shall teleport you to Pelipper's harbor once you are ready," he said.

"Wait, really?" Rye asked. "Uh, th-thanks."

Alakazam gave another nod, prompting Mavy to woozily step outside for fresh air. As Rye and I followed, I cast a paranoid look in Alakazam's direction. I didn't know exactly why, but I didn't quite feel safe around him.

Maybe it was because he could just read minds on a whim? Maybe it was because I'd seen what psychics could do from Xatu? Maybe it was just the vibe that twenty dreamcatchers hanging from the ceiling gave off?

_'I mean, either way, I don't-'_

"Is something the matter, Oshawott?" Alakazam suddenly asked.

_'Right. Mind-reading.'_

As I nervously looked over to Alakazam, he cocked his head.

"I cannot understand that which courses through your mind, but I can gather some. You are uneasy, fearful even. You need not worry, I do not pose a threat. I should not, at least," he said reassuringly.

"I, uh... sh-sha," I said quietly, backing towards the curtain over the exit. Alakazam kept watching for a bit before giving a light sigh and hunching over one of the shelves. Taking this as a signal to go, I hurried out of the shop, where Rye looked to be doing a last-minute checkup through our bag, biting his lip as Mavy laid limply against the wall.

"I'm gonna smell like that incense stuff for the rest of the day, ain't I?" he complained.

"I-it's not that bad," Rye muttered.

"Ooh, look at Mr. Scaly here, not havin' to worry 'bout shit gettin' stuck up in his fur," Mavy said, looking over at me as I sat down next to him. "We're in this together, right, Bailey? Couple of us fuzzy 'mons up against the world."

I gave an absentminded nod as I warily watched the front door, only really stopping to consider one part of his statement.

_'Bailey? Really? That's not even a one-syllable name...'_

* * *

Teleportation sucks.

That's... really about it. When Alakazam came out to teleport us, I had been pretty eager to see what instant transportation was like. Given the metric assload of walking we'd done over the past month, I couldn't help but wonder why this wasn't more commonplace.

Once he started the process of actually teleporting, I quickly understood.

The best way I can describe it would be how our badges teleported us, though less smooth. Rather than getting picked up off my feet and gracefully lifted until I met solid ground, it was more like I was blown into the air and tossed around until I found myself back on the floor, my body feeling beaten and drained. As the three of us moaned and started peeling ourselves off the grass, Alakazam looked down at our sorry states.

"Apologies. Teleportation is a fickle thing with more than two Pokemon," he said.

"Yeah, thanks for the warning," Mavy groaned as I stumbled to my feet and took a look around. Around me, an orderly array of small buildings stood as the occasional Wingull flew above us to attend to the many boats out by the water.

_'...wait, I know this. This is-'_

"Oi-oi!" a familiar voice called from above. Rye and I spun around just in time to see a Pelipper land just next to Alakazam bearing a hearty grin on his bill.

"Noice seein' ya 'round, Alakazam!" Cap'n Brine said enthusiastically.

"As with you, captain," Alakazam replied flatly. "I trust that the orbs have arrived safely?"

"Hoho, straight tah the point as always, eh? Oi've got 'em up in- hrm?" he paused, suddenly noticing us. Giving a chortle, he hopped over to us.

"Treecko, Oshawott! 'Ow ye been?" he beamed.

"C-Cap'n...? Uh, we've been g-good," Rye said as we both gave grins through our disorientation.

"Ah, you know each other. Very good, introductions are not needed, then. Team Reach is here to escort the orbs to Impetus Town. If you would bring them to the shipment and send them off-" Alakazam said, suddenly stopping. "You do not plan on letting them leave anytime soon, it seems."

"Well, course not! Ya tele-wot's-it leaves a Pokemon drained, can't 'ave me lads on the road loike that!" Brine said. Alakazam stood there for a minute before nodding.

"Please, take your time," he said. As he closed his eyes, Mavy stumbled forwards.

"You're just gonna leave us? Why can't ya just... I dunno, teleport the orbs?" he asked. Alakazam snapped his eyes open to give him a sigh.

"Would you like me to teleport you again?" he asked.

"Well, uh..." Mavy said.

"Would you like me to teleport you alongside five hundred objects that I will need to focus on other than you?" Alakazam asked.

"...fair," Mavy sighed. With that, Cap'n Brine gave a hearty grin, gesturing us along as he hopped up the path.

"Well, come on, then! Oi've got plenty o' spare Basculin ya lads can chow on!" he said. My mouth watering, I dragged Rye to follow, though I stopped as I noticed Alakazam lingering to give me a long stare, his brow furrowed.

"Hm," he simply said before closing his eyes and disappearing in a flash of light. Unnerved, I stared at where Alakazam had been for a minute before Rye nudged me.

"You okay?" he asked concernedly.

"Y-yeah," I said, starting back up the path after the others as Cap'n Brine kept beaming.

"Why don't ya lot tell me wot ye've been up to, eh? Maybe tell me 'ow ye got this one on board? Oi mean, a Zigzagoon, moighty odd choice," he said as we approached one of the beefier buildings in the port. Mavy huffed.

"Not all Normal-types," he muttered as we headed inside.

* * *

"Roight, then, 'ere she is! Foive 'undred blank orbs!" Cap'n Brine boomed, gesturing into a small house. Inside, a wooden Bouffalant-drawn cart sat with several boxes stacked atop it. As Rye gave an impressed hum, I looked towards him, confused.

"B-blaan aahbs?" I asked. Rye gave me a confused look, though Mavy seemed more perceptive of my confusion.

"Blank orbs, I think he said. Y'know, I'm with Bruno, what the berry's a blank orb?" he asked. Brine chortled in response.

"Well, orbs gotta come from somewhere, ya know? 'Less yer 'bouta pull one outta dungeon, then they're all loike that 'fore someone pumps some power in!" he explained. As he lead us over to the cart, I couldn't help but be reminded of something from just the previous day.

" _This orb is special in that it doesn't do shit. We do not fucking touch the dud orb."_

As Arden's agitated voice bounced around my head, I stopped to look up at the cart.

_'If blank orbs like these are so common, then what was so important about that one?'_

Checking to see if Cap'n Brine was watching, I made my way up onto the cart and onto one of the boxes with some difficulty. Once at the top, I opened up the lid just a crack. Seeing the pristine orbs glisten in the light, I gave one an experimental poke...

...nothing. No sense of something coursing through them, just nothing. But the one back at Team Apex's place had felt so... I don't know, powerful, how could that have been?

_'Alright. Next on the what-the-fuck mysteries list: the dud orb. Oh, joy.'_

Hopping down from the cart, I waddled over to join Rye and Mavy, who both gave me a sideways glance as Cap'n Brine debriefed us.

"If all goes well an' Bouffalant keeps his pace, ye lads should be back in Impetus boi midday. Yer job's gon be to walk along with him till then, aight?" he asked.

"Y-yes, sir," Rye said. Brine nodded, giving a grin.

"That should be it, then! Smooth sailin' out thar, and come visit again some toime!" he said before hopping out the door and flying off. With that, the Bouffalant gave a rumble and began walking, dragging the cart behind him as we ran to catch up. With the sun shining down on us as we left Brine's port, Mavy looked over at Rye as he zigzagged along.

"How long's the walk?" he asked.

"Shouldn't be any more than two miles. It's really hilly on the way, so, y'know, be ready for that," Rye said, clutching his stomach. "Urgh, that Basculin's really gonna make this tough..."

Mavy bit his lip, but continued on regardless.

"I'll take your word for it. I mean, you and Bartholomew survived, right? I should be able to make it, too," he said. A bit of silence hung into the air before Rye suddenly stifled a loud laugh.

"B-Barthol- th-that doesn't even sound like Beck! You're messing with us, aren't you?" he asked. Mavy gave a sly grin.

"Maybe," he said innocently.

Rye looked at me, his expression reading "what are we gonna do with this guy?" as we started up the first of many hills on the path home.

The next twenty minutes went by uneventfully, mostly consisting of the three of us making small talk and banter and taking turns trying to climb onto the moving cart until Bouffalant told us to knock it off. We must have been halfway back to Impetus Town before we noticed the first discrepancy: a dark shape speeding into the nearby trees. Bouffalant came to a halt, watching the forest warily as we collectively gulped. After a minute of nothing, we started to move on, though Mavy quickly jumped in front of us.

"Beck, you come with. Rye, act natural," he whispered before he scurried over to the trees, his ears up. I quickly waddled after the Zigzagoon, coming to a stop just at the treeline.

"Aight, now act like you're takin' a piss," he said.

"Er, what?" I asked.

"Just trust me on this," he said. Giving him a look, I nodded and walked up to a tree, trying to act the part as Mavy started browsing the trees. As he found an apparently suitable one, one of the spikes of his tail fur began glowing. As I watched, Mavy swung his tail forward, shooting the Pin Missile into the tree's trunk.

"What yeh-" I asked.

"Shh. Don't move," he whispered before putting his ear to the long pin. After a minute of listening, he gritted his teeth.

"Ergh... okay, I guess it was nothing. You done, Oshawott? Cool, let's head back," he said loudly before scampering back towards the cart. As I caught up to him, he ran up to Rye and waved me over.

"Whatever that was, pretty sure it wasn't a wild. Act cool and get ready for a scuffle," he explained. Rye gulped loudly, though nodded and huddled close to me as we gestured Bouffalant on.

"Wh-where'd you learn to do that?" Rye asked as we started moving again.

"From Pa. When you live in a place like home, you gotta know that stuff," Mavy said. Rye nodded and stayed silent, perhaps out of fear of being distracted when the inevitable happened.

Not even a minute went by before a loud screech came from the woods behind, followed by the flapping of wings. Before Bouffalant could even come to a halt, a blur of red and green landed on the dirt road in front of us, looking up at us as we hurriedly got ready for battle.

"By order of the Phoenix League, you've got till I count to ten to surrender your cargo," the Hawlucha ordered. Bouffalant huffed.

"Now, let's be civilized here," he rumbled.

"It is for a righteous cause, rest assured. Ten!" the Hawlucha began counting. "Nine!"

"B-back off!" Rye shakily demanded. Hawlucha gave a humorless laugh.

"Or what, scrawny? Seven!" he said. I narrowed my eyes. Surely this guy wasn't serious? He was outnumbered three to one! Even if I didn't have my trusty weapon, we could take him on, I was sure.

"Six! Five!"

"Rye! Maghee!" I said to the other two, gesturing forward as I made ready to fight.

"W-wait, Beck!" Rye called.

"Shaaah!" I yelled in a pitiful battle cry, charging forward to meet Hawlucha. As the bird stumbled back in initial bewilderment, I fired a high-pressure Water Gun into his face. As he sputtered, I tried to knock him off his feet with a tackle, only for him to soar up into the air. Getting a faceful of dirt, I tried to push myself up, only for Hawlucha to strike me hard in the gut. Before I could recover from that, I heard my opponent fly up into the air before diving down and-

* * *

With a nasty _thwack_ , Hawlucha struck Beck in the back of the head, causing the Oshawott to let out a light moan before going limp. Rye quickly began to run up to aid him, though Hawlucha rested a talon on Beck's head.

"You're gonna cooperate or else your buddy gets it, alright?" he demanded. Rye froze, alternating his gaze between Hawlucha and Beck before hanging his head. Though the glare Mavy gave could have burned through solid steel, he also backed off.

"Good. Now, you're gonna drag this cart over to... uh..." Hawlucha trailed off, looking down at Beck. A bit of staring and thinking later, his intimidating demeanor shattered as he stumbled back.

"Oh, sweet Arceus... th-this is... I... fuck, fuck! Fuck!" he swore, hurriedly scampering away from Beck and turning to fly away.

Realizing what seemed to be happening, Rye ran forward to pursue him, his eyes glowing indigo as he fired off a Dragon Breath. The flames grazed Hawlucha, though the damage was enough to singe his wings and send him back to the ground. The now flightless Hawlucha cried out and tried to crawl away, only for several spines to land around him and stop him in his tracks. Mavy's Pin Missile caused enough hesitation for Rye to catch up with the bird and slam his tail into his back. Hawlucha briefly tried to push himself up before fainting onto the road.

Panting, Rye quickly turned to tend to Beck. Digging an Oran out from their bag, he stuffed it into the Oshawott's mouth as Mavy shot the two a glare.

"Why'd he do that? We had him!" he protested.

"He's just like that, I guess," Rye said, moving Beck's jaw to chew and swallow the berry.

"S-so you're not even gonna try to make him, you know, not do that?" Mavy demanded. Rye growled slightly.

"I've tried, believe me," he simply said. Before Mavy could say anything else, Beck stirred before moaning and opening his eyes.

"Wha...?" he asked.

"It's alright, we beat him. We're okay," Rye reassured him. As Beck sat up, he looked over at Hawlucha's unconscious body. A bit of contemplation later, he sighed, wobbly getting to his feet.

"Agh, am sahry," he said.

"I-it's fine, Beck," Rye reassured him. As Mavy muttered under his breath in clear disagreement, Beck and Rye hoisted Hawlucha up and dragged him over to Bouffalant, who stared at them in ill-hidden awe.

"W-would you mind if we put him on the cart? Er, and let Oshawott sit on it, too?" Rye asked. Bouffalant blinked.

"Sure, uh, go ahead," he said.

Before long, Beck had clambered up onto the cart and laid against Hawlucha's tied-up body as the cart rolled down the road again. With a moment to relax, Team Reach took to idle thought.

Rye did not know what to think. He was relieved that they had escaped this encounter relatively unscathed, yet he felt quite bad for Beck. His headstrong nature could be useful in the future, especially contrasting Rye's own meekness. However, he knew he could not ignore the signs. He had to help his friend.

Mavy was decently pissed off. He had joined a team he had observed was rather competent in the field, and yet only now was he finding out that his new teammate's head was likely stuck up someplace undesirable. He was almost certain that this would only carry on, but he could only hope that this would not be the case, especially since he had nowhere else to go but home. Either way, he had to find out what his deal was.

As for Beck, he now sat staring off at the sky, settling on a single topic to mull over.

_'Beck, you fucking idiot...'_


	35. A Finger Pointed

Word spread quickly of what had happened on the road from the harbor. The minute we had dragged the cart of orbs and our asses back into Impetus Town, a crowd had formed around us that lingered even as we finished the job with Alakazam. Even now as we sat in the police station, a number of heads craned to peek through the door in the lobby, leaning to get even a hint of what was happening. For better or for worse, Rye, Mavy, and I could hear everything, and as we waited outside a hastily assembled interrogation room, we winced as we heard Officer Magnezone slam a magnet onto the table.

"ZZT! Insistence: What was your motive for the robbery?" he demanded.

"The fuck you talkin' about?" Hawlucha's voice inquired.

_CRACKLE!_

As Hawlucha's pained yelps and the smell of ozone hit me, I stared at the floor, still moping over what had happened back on the road. I couldn't quite settle on a singular explanation for why I'd put on such a piss-poor showing, and I'd been mulling over the possibilities for a good couple hours now.

_'I'd have done better if I had my scalchop. At the very least, I wouldn't have just gotten knocked out like that._

_Well, then again, I could've taken him if I weren't so dependent on that thing. I wasn't good enough with special attacks and paid the price. Clearly I need to train more._

_In that case, why didn't Rye help me? He and Mavy just stood there, we could've taken that Hawlucha if they'd just gone ahead when I said so!_

_No, this was my fault. I shouldn't have charged in like that. I should've waited for Rye's command and not gotten high off my fumes again... damn it, how many times have I promised to try and work on that? I just wish I could talk to Rye about this!_

_Agh... Beck, you massive sha-ing idiot!'_

As I gritted my teeth, Rye shot me a concerned look.

"Beck... you're fine, really," he said. When I didn't budge, he squirmed in his seat.

"I-I get it, really. Uh, Dill used to be that way, y'know? Whenever something didn't work out, he'd act like this. Wh-what you've gotta do is just... a-accept it and m-move on... I-I'm sorry, I shouldn''t..."

As Rye gave a weak sigh, Mavy cleared his throat.

"Is there something I'm missing herer, or..." he asked, through he shrunk back as Rye and I sent glares his way. A quiet moment passed before the peace was interrupted by another loud, indiscernable demand from Officer Magnezone. I looked at the shut door curiously before hopping off my seat and tiptoeing towards it.

"Wh-what're you doing?" Rye asked, looking up from his sulking.

"Shh," I shushed, putting my ear to the door. Though Rye's look screamed at me to stop, he soon got up and joined me in my snooping. Before long, Mavy pushed his face between us, so we all listened in as Magnezone continued his interrogation.

"Statement: Let's start at the beginning. You are part of the Phoenix League, and-" he said. Hawlucha scoffed.

"What?! I already told you, I'm not with them, I'm just travelling from Westgrove-on-Sea, I'm just tryin' to make end's meet!" he said. Rye's face scrunched up as Magnezone gave a buzz of annoyance.

"Statement: I have already been debriefed by Team Reach on the situation. Do not lie to me."

"W-wait, but-" the bird stammered, though a quick crackle from Officer Magnezone's magnets shut him up.

"Interrogative: Why did you attack Alakazam's shipments?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Hawlucha muttered. This was quickly followed by a loud zap as Magnezone apparently fired off another bolt. I winced as the bird screeched in pain, though soon he seemed to relent.

"Aagh! Agh! W-we needed supplies! I was resupplying!" he yelled, causing the crackling to stop.

"Inquiry: 'We' as in the Phoenixes?" he asked. Hawlucha gave a weak groan of affirmation. Rye and I exchanged a quick glance as the officer's voice continued.

"Interrogative: Where are you based?" he asked. Hawlucha remained silent, prompting another bolt from Magnezone, which only lasted a few seconds this time before the outlaw apparently gave up.

"Agh! B-baah! Bassa! Bassa!" he yelled. Rye gave a wide-eyed stare, stumbling back a bit and nearly tripping over my tail.

"Ba-sha?" I asked. Rye gave me a quick glance, though I wasn't quite sure if this was because of this sudden revelation or how I'd said that.

_'Honestly, probably a decent bit of the second one. Why'd I have to end up cute?'_

"Statement: I see. Interrogative: We have received a tip implying that the Phoenix League may have been responsible for the attack in Ebbull City. Does this have any truth to it?" Magnezone asked.

"N-no," Hawlucha groaned before yelping suddenly. "Okay, yes! Yes!"

There was a long pause.

"...interrogative: what was the motive?" Magnezone asked.

"Don't know," Hawlucha said. A quick crackle of electricity later, he was spilling info again. "It's higher-level knowledge! I promise, I don't know why they did it!"

"Inquiry: Do you know what was stolen?" Magnezone asked.

"The fuck do you think I am? I just work under their roof, don't know anything the executives got coursing through their skulls," Hawlucha rebutted quietly. Magnezone made an electronic hum before a shuffling sound met my ears.

"Statement: Very well. Thank you for your cooperation. I shall leave you for now," he said. "Imperative: Magneton, please return him to his cell."

Realizing that Magnezone could only be heading out to meet us, I scrambled away from the door and back towards my seat. Unfortunately for me, both Rye and Mavy seemed to have had the same idea, so with a loud yelp, I ended up tripping over the two and tumbling to the ground with them. When Magnezone pushed open the door, he found us sprawled on the floor trying to untangle ourselves, by no means looking as inconspicuous as I'd wanted. As I gave him an innocuous smile, he gave us an unimpressed stare.

"Disdain: I know what you're thinking. Just because you've been to Bassa Village does not mean I will allow you to go and solve this. I will contact Sheriff Feraligatr about this, you are to-"

"W-wait," Rye interrupted, pushing Mavy off his head. "Remember when I said he, y'know, tried to run away when he got a look at Beck? D-did you, uh, ask him about that?"

Magnezone contemplated for a minute before turning back towards the interrogation room, where a Magneton was leading a visibly drained Hawlucha away, though a loud tone from the officer stopped them in their tracks.

"Interrogative: Mr. Hawlucha, I was told you displayed reluctance to attack Apprentice Oshawott here. Might I ask why?" he asked. Hawlucha hesitated.

"...I, uh, don't know," he said. Magnezone's magnets sparked loudly, causing Hawlucha to jump back. "Ah! I don't, really! They just said we weren't supposed to attack the feral Oshawott with the Treecko partner!"

Magnezone cocked his head (or rather, tilted sideways entirely) as my stomach churned. A minute passed before the officer nodded.

"Statement: I see. Carry on," he said. With a hard nudge, the Magneton led Hawlucha around a corner, leaving Magnezone to shut the door and turn towards us. After a minute of eyeing us, he began speaking in his monotone voice.

"Statement: We will look into this. Continue as normal, and do not get involved, this is not your business. Imperative: You may go," he said. Rye bit his lip and nodded, uttering a quiet thanks before gesturing me on. As the three of us filed out of the station, curious onlookers swarmed us, shouting questions that we tried to ignore. Thankfully, they had the sense to leave us alone by the time we entered town square, leaving us alone to process what we'd just heard.

_'So they're doing... that. Why? Do they know I'm human? Do they want to recruit me or something? What possible use could I have for them?_

_Agh, this hurts my head...'_

A few minutes of silence passed before Rye took a look down at the sack of Poké Alakazam had given us for our services.

"So, uh, w-we did that. Team Reach?" he offered, holding up a palm. Cracking a quick smile, I quickly gave a high-five as Mavy looked on confusedly.

"This some sorta team ritual I don't understand?" he asked.

"Bit hard to explain," Rye said as we started back towards the street. Before we got far, Mavy hopped in front of us, and after a bit of hesitation, he sighed.

"Aight. So... what in distortion were they talkin' 'bout back there?" he demanded. Rye's face fell.

"Er... I-I know, all that sounded really weird, but-" he began.

"Weird? Oh, sure, apparently some mob just so happens to have y'all on some list, no biggie!" Mavy said, forcing a sarcastic grin. Rye let out a quiet exasperated groan.

"W-we'll tell you what's going on when we feel like... y-you know," he said.

"I _don't_ know, actually, so just tell me something! Gimme a hint, a nudge in the right direction, I dunno! I just want some answers here! Do you not trust me here?" Mavy protested.

"Y-yes, we do! It's just... you've only been here a day, w-we're not ready to tell you, alright?!" Rye rebutted. A good few heads craned in our direction, causing Rye to shudder a bit as Mavy argued back.

"Yeah, but I'm still a teammate! Like, really, you're willin' to share your crap with your... th-the feral here over me?" he asked. My gaze darkened as Rye gritted his teeth.

"D-don't bring Beck into this," Rye stammered, inching towards me.

"Look, my point is, why can't I be trusted here?" Mavy asked. Rye hesitated a bit before putting his hands on his head.

"I... you... agh, I can't..." he tried.

"Hm?" Mavy asked.

"Just leave me alone!" Rye yelled, his eyes suddenly turning indigo. As Mavy yelped and scrambled back in panic, the Treecko's face fell. His eyes returning to normal, he stumbled a bit, staring bug-eyed at the frightened Mavy for a minute.

"I-I'm sorry... I..." he choked out before turning and raggedly running up the road.

"Rye!" I called. The Treecko didn't look back, only continuing to run until he disappeared behind a building. I ran to follow him, though I didn't get far before I stopped to take a look back at the still-shaken Mavy as he stood with his tail to a building wall. Biting my lip, I waddled back over to him.

"Am sorry," I said. The Zigzagoon didn't look up at me, only huffing.

"Yeah, aight," he mumbled. As I waited for him to pull himself out of his rut, he sent me a light glare. "What, you want food or-"

He suddenly blinked hard, his gaze softening.

"Right, you can... I-I get it, I guess. Like, I reckon I wouldn't trust myself in that position, but... ugh, I need a bit," he said, curling up against the wall.

"Maagh?" I tried to say. Mavy gave me a quick flat look.

"Please skedaddle. Treecko asks, I'll be here," he said. I watched him for a minute before giving a nod and running up the street, not stopping till I ran through the door to our base. Once I did skid to a halt, however, I was presented with a noticeable lack of Rye in the building.

"Shaht," I muttered to myself before heading back out to look around for my friend. Scanning the mostly empty area, I couldn't find any sign of him, so I hurriedly waddled the way I'd come. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, I let out a despondent sigh and slumped against a tree outside the Guild's gate. Sure, I figured he'd be back eventually, but just the idea of Rye being that upset...

_'Agh, why'd we even let Mavy on the team? He's been more trouble than he's worth...'_

My frustration suddenly ground to a halt as the tree above rustled, sprinkling leaves onto the ground around me. Looking up in confusion, I found Rye perched on a high-up branch, rocking in place and whispering to himself as he stared off.

"R-Rye?" I asked. The Treecko gave a sharp gasp as he flinched, looking down to find me staring up at him.

"Oh... B-Beck. S-sorry I... you know," he said, his voice hoarse. We sat there quietly for a minute before he spoke up again. "I-I think we should talk. C-could you sit here with me?"

I gave a quiet cough, gesturing to the tree's very much non-climbable trunk. Rye looked down confusedly for a minute before blinking.

"R-right. I forget other Pokemon can't do that," he said, slumping against the trunk above me. "I just... I don't know what to do. Like, I promised I'd stick by you till the end, but... I-I don't think I'm ready to take on whoever's behind all this. I-I'm just a Treecko, and a pretty bad one at that. I mean, everyone says we're supposed to be calm and collected all the time, but I... I just... can't. I... I don't know..."

"Hey, hey, Rye," I tried to say reassuringly, though Rye didn't seem to be finished.

"I-I'm not ready for this. I just wanted to make a team, not do... this. I don't know, I guess there's just too much going on? Like, teaching you to talk and write, all this with these Phoenix 'mons, Mavy, just... I-I just feel like I'm just going with the flow and the waterfall's coming up. A-and I feel like when I go over, something really bad's gonna happen, and... i-it'll be my fault," he said.

"Rye, is ah-keh," I tried.

"No, it's not! What if we fail? What if I screw up and we get totaled in some dungeon along the way? What if... wh-what if I get you killed, Beck?" he asked. "I... I can't go through that again..."

As I watched him, the Treecko buried his face into his legs, sniffling as he started rocking in place again. He kept softly crying for a good minute before giving a shaky sigh.

"I-I'm sorry, that's just been on my chest for a while," he said quietly.

"Rye, I..." I trailed off as he started climbing down off the branch. As he dropped down, he took a seat, wiped off his snout, and looked me in the eye with his own bloodshot pair.

"D-do you wanna be the team leader?" he asked abruptly.

"Huh? Wh-wha?" I asked.

"I'm clearly not good enough. I-I think the team would be better off in your paws," Rye reasoned. I raised my paws in response, shaking my head.

"Rye, nah. Yeh're ff... f-fah-ai... f-fiine. Yeh're fine," I managed out.

"You really think so? It's just that you-" Rye started.

"Yeh're fine," I repeated, putting a paw on his shoulder reassuringly. I was no therapist, so that was about it in terms of what I could do for him. Thankfully, it seemed to be enough, as Rye let out a sniffle before trying for a smile. Grinning back, I offered to help him up, though once he was on his feet, he quickly pulled me into a hug, much to my initial confusion.

"Th-thanks," he choked out. I hesitated for a second, then wrapped my stubby arms around him.

"Can you help me out? You know, with being... b-better?" he asked, not breaking the embrace.

"Yeah, Rye. Yeah," I replied. He had been there for me when I'd melted down over my ferality what seemed like months ago, so I figured the least I could do was try to repay the favor. For now, though, I just held my friend, trying my best to comfort him. We just stayed there for a while.

Before long, we let each other go and quietly started back for our quarters, not daring to break the atmosphere of the moment until we were sitting on our straw beds. Shifting in his seat, Rye chose this moment to finally break the silence as he cleared his throat.

"S-so what do you wanna do about... y'know, Bassa Village?" he asked. "I-I'd guess we should just go, but... you know, the Guild probably won't let us and we're probably not ready. What do you think?"

I thought for a good while before sighing.

"Danno," I said. Rye pursed his lips as he looked down to the floor.

"I guess I'll think about it, then," he said. I nodded, leading to another bout of silence that Rye once again interrupted as he suddenly looked around.

"Er, where's Mavy? Is he alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, gesturing outside.

"Okay, uh... t-tell me if you see him," he requested. I nodded, so he sat back as I started peering out the window. A few minutes of this passed before my ears stood up to the sound of ripping parchment, which a quick look revealed to be Rye tearing open an envelope. Recognizing it as the letter he'd gotten from Sinni the day prior, I watched as he started reading and gave a quiet snort.

"Wha?" I asked. Rye gave me a look.

"Just an inside joke between us. Nothing about... you know," he said. I narrowed my eyes in mock suspicion before turning back to the window. Finally given a moment to just sit and think, I considered the day's events.

That conversation we'd had had given me a bit of a wake-up call. I'd had my ass handed to me on the road, and clearly I needed to work on some things; not just so I could put on a better showing next time, but because Rye was counting on me. He was the reason I'd even managed over the past month, and by the looks of it, the same was true the other way. I couldn't just wait for solutions, we'd have to work that out together.

Of course, before I did that, I felt I had a sorely-needed lesson to attend.

* * *

The river roared as its water barreled towards me, threatening to overtake me. Yelping, I jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting washed off my feet. Humming at the failure of his Surf attack, Bert leaped at me, retreating into his shell and beginning to spin rapidly. Not wanting to be on that attack's receiving end, I managed to knock him off course with a high-pressure Water Gun. Bert's shell tumbled until it ended up on its back, lying still as I ran to strike my teacher in his vulnerable position. A good Tackle, and-

My body immediately felt like it'd just run straight into a brick wall. Blinking the fog out of my vision, I found I wasn't far off as I slid down the transparent barrier before him like some kind of cartoon. As Bert's Protect dissipated, he quickly rocked himself back onto his feet and swung his tail down at me as I tried to scramble to my feet.

"Ah!" I cried out before the Aqua Tail stopped short of my head. Bert stayed there for a second before relaxing.

"I know, that was cheap, but that's a good lesson. Bait and switch. One of the oldest tricks in the book, you need to keep an eye out for that one," he said as he reached to help me up.

"Aghh," I moaned as I managed to gain my balance. Bert smirked.

"Hey, don't worry, kid, you're doing better. You might've gotten me if I hadn't thrown up that Protect," he reassured me. I sighed and nodded, waddling to the side to take a seat. After pushing the excess water back into the river, Bert sat down next to me, glancing at my empty chest.

"So I heard about what happened over in Basculin Strait," he said.

"Ah, yeah," I said glumly. Bert tapped his digits on the stone before sighing.

"Don't let it get you down, kiddo. Every defeat's just a lesson for another time," he said. I gave him a quick sideways glance.

_'Yeah, you're telling me.'_

Apparently catching this, Bert smirked.

"Too corny? Well, there's always a positive. I hear the Guildmaster's got a good few knives holed up in his collection. Maybe if we ask real politely, I can get ya one of those to use till the 'chop grows back. Imagine, an Oshawott running at you with a knife," he mused. "Terrifying."

I chuckled at the image, though Bert's grin faltered a bit.

"Yeah... speaking of the Guildmaster. Does he come across as... I dunno, eccentric to you at all?" he asked.

"Wha?" I replied.

"I don't know, something about the ol' dog's just a bit weird. You know, his weird collections, him never stepping out of that little burrow in the ground, the damn statue of himself he's got in the Guild. Don't know if that's just all Guildmasters, but I was just a-wonderin'," he said. I thought it over for a bit.

"Eh," I said, shrugging. Sure, Arcanine was a bit on the odd side, but he was a good guy, I'd say. Bert nodded a bit.

"Hm. I guess it's just I'm just used to bein' able to talk to my boss. Might even be a bit homesick for Pelipper and company. I mean, this is better than sharing everything with fifty Wingulls for sure, but y'know? Goin' from knowing everyone to only havin' you and a couple others to talk to is... yeah. Guess I have all the 'feral-lover' comments to thank for that," he reasoned. My eyes widened.

"Oh... s-sehr, am sorry," I said. Bert let out a light, bitter sigh.

"It's alright. Give it a couple weeks," he said before noticing the stars starting to show up and abruptly getting to his feet. "Whoop, look at the time! Guess I should be sendin' you off! So, er, remember to work on those ranged moves and watchin' your opponent."

"Wha? Er, t-tanks," I said, getting up and walking off.

"Good luck out there, kid," Bert called after me. I waved back at him before heading outside, the telltale splash of Bert diving into the river ringing out behind me. At the training grounds' entrance, Rye sat waiting as usual, joining me as we walked up the path towards the Guild.

"Mavy's waiting at the mess hall. We've talked, but I-I don't think we've made much progress," the Treecko said. I gave a nod, waiting for him to address the Slaking in the room. As the torchlight of the team quarters came into view, Rye leaned in close.

"It's up to you if you wanna go to Bassa. Y-you know, make the call and we'll get ready," he whispered. I bit my lip, dread blossoming in my gut. While yes, I knew that this was probably the best chance for any answers, there were a good few issues I had with facing these Phoenixes so soon; namely, one starting with an X.

From what I'd seen, the guys on top of the Phoenix League probably wouldn't hesitate to rip my spine out if I tried to fight them. I probably wouldn't have to face anyone too powerful, but in the end, I just wasn't ready for this.

But this would probably be the only chance I'd get to figure out what I was doing here, maybe even stop these Pokemon...

"I-I danno," I said. Rye thought for a bit.

"L-let's sleep on it and, uh, I'll tell you if I come up with anything, alright?" he offered.

"Yeah, ah-keh. Tanks," I said. Rye gave a quick nod as we stepped into the dinner line. Despite his reassurance, I could still see just a bit of worry in Rye's face, and I was almost certain as to what was nagging at him.

_'I've got maybe 12 hours to decide if I really want to do this._

_Ugh... it's fine, it's fine. I mean, surely a night's enough time to come to a decision here.'_

* * *

"D-don't worry, I haven't decided yet either," Rye reassured me as I dragged my feet along.

Without any decision to go off of, we'd decided to just go into town and buy more berries, bringing Mavy along as a sign of good will. Up until now, though, he was mostly silent, only sending a flat glance towards Rye every once in a while. Now, however, he inched towards me as we walked.

"You doin' alright? You've been draggin' yer tail since we woke up, didn't know ferals could feel like that," he commented. Though miffed by his comment, I lifted my tail off the ground and tried for positivity.

"Yeah," I lied. Mavy gave a concerned look.

"C'mon, if Treecko starts goin' off again, I don't want ya to be in a mood. I'm a teammate, you can-"

"Am fine," I insisted. Mavy let out a light sigh.

"Aight, then," he said, offering one last sympathetic look towards me before leaving me to focus on trying to keep my tail out of the dust.

_'Great, now that he's pointed my tail out, I'm gonna be self-aware about the thing for who knows how long. Why don't you tell me to breathe manually while you're at it? Or, I don't know, remind me of my nose in my vision or-'_

"Wh-what...?" Rye gasped, skidding to a halt as we walked into the town square. Craning my head, I was confused to find a couple of Magnetons guarding the road leading to the station and questioning passersby. Exchanging glances, Rye and I approached the two, one of which quickly noticed us.

"Instruction: Please note that none are allowed near the stat... Exclamation: Ah, Team Reach," it droned.

"What's going on?" Rye asked the Magneton, who gave an electronic sigh.

"Clarification: Prisoner Hawlucha escaped his cell last night. No sign of him. We believe he was broken out by an outside force," it explained. The three of us stood there for a minute to soak this in.

"Uh... w-we'll keep an eye out, then. Thank you, sir," Rye said, leading us away in an awkward silence. Starting back on the road, the two of us met eyes. Giving a slight nod, I made a silent agreement with the Treecko. Stepping in front of the Kecleons' shop to pick out from their selection of berries, I tried to come to terms with what we'd decided.

_'We're really doing this. Tomorrow, we'll be out looking for these Phoenix guys. I might finally get some answers._

… _'_

"Really, Beck, are you alright? What's goin' on with ya today?" Mavy asked. Looking over my shoulder at the now quite concerned Zigzagoon, I eventually just shrugged.

"Shtuff," I said flatly.

* * *

All was quiet in the Phoenix League's headquarters. The celebrations over the recent victory in Ebbull City had winded down, and life had returned to normal within the underground complex. The gatherers had gone to fetch much-needed supplies, the advocates had gone to spread the League's noble cause, the grunts stood guard as the executives squabbled over what their next course of action should be, and the teams on cleaning duty lamented their drunken states as they cleaned the mess.

However, through the air of normalcy, most could point out a notable difference: the absence of Executive Xatu.

Indeed, Xatu now sat alone among the steel skeletons and shattered monuments that made up the remains of Vertress. Where there had once been the shining capital of the nation of Unova, there now sat an expanse of overgrown ruins that only served as a bitter reminder of what had been.

For Xatu, it was the perfect spot to get away and meditate. However, today was not the day for that: the Director had requested to talk with him.

_Disappointment._

Xatu blinked at the abstract emotion meeting him from afar, though did not break his stillness as he sent his response.

"I am sorry, sire, but you know as well as I do what had to be done. Had I not led the charge, the mercenaries would likely failed in retrieving the orb," he reasoned.

_Irritation._

"I am aware you are unhappy, but do remember that the next target is not so distant. Haven Isle is a mere five hundred miles away; should the orb be there, I will not have such a difficult time in my return," Xatu said. There was a brief pause as the Director seemed to consider his words.

_...confidence. Determination._

Xatu gave a solemn nod.

"Very good. I shall be on my way once I attend to some business. Good day to you, my friend," he said.

_Farewell._

As Xatu felt his psychic link with the Director fizzle out, he took a moment to look around at the ruined monument he stood within before closing his eyes. He knew what awaited him back at base. 

Time-sight was a strange thing. While peering into the past he'd already experienced was no problem for him, gazing into the future was a bit more complicated. The further ahead in time he gazed, the more possibilities would branch off. It was near impossible to accurately predict even a day into the future, but right now, most possibilities showed a certain Pokemon standing before Xatu. If this was what he was to do...

With a quick teleport, Xatu opened his eyes to look down at his visitor: a Hawlucha. Lightly probing the Pokemon's mind, he stared down at him in growing disdain.

"Speak," he soon commanded. Hawlucha gulped.

"W-well, sir, er..." he began.

"What happened?" Xatu demanded, earning an 'eep!' from Hawlucha.

"Uh, w-well, I was out on a resupply mission, sir. F-for the Imperium Desert base. Er, while I was intercepting a supply cart, see, I ran into some Society 'mons. Like, the big, burly types. Uh, a Sceptile and an Aggron, I think. I put up a real good fight, but they got me down. They got me to tell about the Desert base, but I mean, nothing much else!" Hawlucha fibbed. A wave of smugness struck a very unimpressed Xatu, who simply stared at the bird. Sighing, he made a quick flap of his wing, feeling ebbs of energy leave him.

"I would like to ask another question. Just how dense do you think me to be?" he demanded softly. Hawlucha's demeanor crumbled.

"Wh-what?" he asked. As Xatu leaned in, Hawlucha started panting and clutching at his chest.

"You dare lie to me? You dare put this entire League at risk? You dare strike...?!"

"S-sir, please..." Hawlucha gasped, falling onto the floor.

"It is because of filth like you that this world is in decline. Our cause has no place for you," Xatu growled.

"D-don't... I can't..." Hawlucha choked out. A minute passed before he went limp on the floor and stopped breathing. Xatu stared down at the limp figure impassively. The heart was such an easy organ to manipulate; a simple flick of the wing and cardiac arrest would set in. Not that Hawlucha deserved it so quick, Xatu figured as he looked up.

"Remove the body from my office," he commanded. As the guards outside hesitantly walked in and morbidly regarded Hawlucha's corpse, Xatu simply walked out the door.

Outside in the main hall, a group of gathered Pokemon, a couple of executives among them, watched him in mute shock. Of course, Xatu had no time for this, the mercenaries in Haven Isle were waiting.

"Linoone. My bag," he requested. The Linoone in the room hurriedly nodded and deposited the bag he'd been given at Xatu's feet. Picking it up, he looked over the gathered one last time.

"I shall return in a couple of days' time. Good day to you all," he said before closing his eyes and teleporting away. As the light cleared, the Linoone gave a shaky sigh.

"Don't let him get to you, guy. He's just an ass is all," Executive Gengar reassured him.

"Y-yeah, figured," Linoone agreed. He'd already gotten on Xatu's nerves well over two weeks ago, and all he had needed to do was fetch the executives. Now seeing the corpse being dragged out of the executive's office... he'd come close here, he knew it. He couldn't imagine dying at Xatu's talons, though. Not with his son waiting for him back home...

No, he couldn't focus on this now. He had work to attend to.

"Aight, T-Team Horizon. Patrol duty, let's boogie," he said. A select few in the conversing crowd began to move into formation, and as they started to march towards the exit, Executive Gengar tore their gaze from them, casting a final look at where Xatu had been.

"What the fuck did the boss see in you?" he muttered before phasing through the floor.


	36. The Division Bell

"We're goin' to where now?" Mavy asked as we walked away from our quarters, the noon sun beating down on us.

"Uh, w-we're gonna try and get a job in Arid Riverbed. Something we need to do," Rye shakily explained. Mavy gave an incredulous look towards the Treecko as he hopped beside us.

"Y'all ain't subtle 'bout this, you know. I ain't the sharpest, but I can read a map. Pretty sure the cop had good reason to tell us not to do this," he said. Rye and I exchanged a quick glance.

"I-it's important," Rye eventually said. Mavy gave a quiet scoff, inching towards me as we rounded the corner.

"How do ya put up with this 'mon?" he asked me. I just made a little cry I hoped he'd interpret as an answer, turning my attention to the boards ahead.

Our bag restocked and a basic game plan in mind, we were prepared to go ahead and try and hop a ride to Bassa Village. Rye had pointed out that we couldn't just drop everything and go, the Guild would most definitely notice. It'd happened before, why wouldn't it happen again? As such, he'd eventually proposed just taking a job in the general area and hoping for the best.

As the three of us reached the job board, Rye took to climbing up onto it to scour for appropriate jobs.

"Okay, uh, we've got collecting Cacturne quills in Arid Riverbed, a lost bag of Soft Sand in Fulgurite Oasis, a Z-"

He froze, pausing over one of the notices. As I watched him worriedly, Mavy cocked his head.

"What?" he asked.

"I-it's..." Rye said.

"Lemme see," Mavy requested. After a long moment of hesitation, Rye silently tore the notice off and let it flutter down to us. Looking down, I found a crude drawing of a Zangoose looking back up at me from in between the Fletchling-scratch as Mavy peeked over to read.

_'...please don't tell me it's that Zangoose.'_

"Request from Team Luster. We lost our partner Zangoose on Mt. Twist Path. We need someone to resupply and help us get him out. Please come ASAP. Reward pending," Mavy read, looking up worriedly once he was finished.

"A Zangoose... wasn't he one o' the 'mons that stood up for us a couple days back?" he asked. Biting my lip, I gave a nod, causing Mavy to try and fold up the notice with his forepaws.

"Wh-what're you doing?" Rye asked.

"We're goin' to save Zangoose, ain't we?" Mavy asked. Rye and I exchanged a glance before the Treecko sighed.

"We... w-we can't," he said quietly. Mavy was quiet for a minute, only staring at Rye in a mix of horror and quiet anger.

"Why not?" he soon demanded. Rye gritted his teeth before climbing down from the board.

"This... i-it's more... it's more important," he squeaked. Mavy's face twitched, the Zigzagoon looking ready to explode.

"Why the fuck would whatever this is be more important than...?! We are talking about someone who's probably about to die! Are you seriously about to leave this guy to fuckin' die?!" he lashed out.

"W-wait, I... I-I don't-" Rye managed.

"No. No! Beck, you can't seriously agree with this shit, can you?" he demanded. I stumbled back, at a loss here.

I'd only talked to Zangoose a few times, but I didn't want to just leave him like this. We could always just reschedule and head to Bassa Village after we went and saved him, right?

But then again, the Phoenixes had broken Hawlucha out, so chances were they knew we were coming. What if we did delay and arrived to find the place abandoned? Sure, we'd save Zangoose, but all that trouble we'd gone through yesterday would be for nothing. Just...

"Shah," I whined quietly, my paws trembling lightly as Rye walked over to one of the Pokemon nearby.

"Si- er, ma'am! We need-" he began, only for the Pokemon to wince as she saw who was talking.

"Oh, er... we're busy, I'm sorry," she said, sending me a paranoid look before speedwalking away, leaving Rye to continue confronting a very annoyed Mavy.

"M-maybe if we ask someone else?"

"No, look, just tell me what's that important! It ain't that hard!"

"I-I can't..."

"No, I ain't havin' this shit! I'm sick of you bein' a dick, now tell me or I'm done!"

"No! J-just..."

"Just what, Treecko? Just what?"

"FECK! I GAH!"

Both heads turned to me as I glared at them, too stressed to really think over what I'd just pulled out of my ass. If it was what was needed to stop the arguing, though...

"I go. Teh Ba-sha," I panted. Both of my partners stared for a moment before Rye spoke up.

"You mean, like, you go to Bassa Village, we don't?" Rye asked. I nodded, causing Rye to hang his head, his face ridden with a hint of fear as Mavy thought my proposal over.

"There's three of us, though," he said.

"Nah. See-nee," I pointed out. While Mavy cocked his head in confusion, Rye's eyes widened.

"Oh, yeah, Sinni! She can... uh..." he trailed off. "...d-does this mean I have to go to..."

"Oh... Rye, I-" I started, though Rye shook his head and tried to put on an about face.

"No, i-it's okay. I'll... I'll go to Mt. Twist," he declared. I stared at the Treecko for a bit before my face broke into a grin. As I gave him a congratulatory pat on the arm, Mavy gritted his teeth.

"I _have_ to go with Treecko, then?" he asked. Both of us turned to look at the Zigzagoon.

"Wh-what's wrong with me?" Rye asked.

"Y'know, I'd just rather have Beck as my buddy here," Mavy said.

"Why?" Rye pondered. Mavy scoffed.

"Oh, gee, I don't know! Maybe when you nearly Dragon Breath'd my face off, he was the only one who bothered to come and check on me," he vented. "And, might I remind you, he's the damn feral in the group! Apparently, the feral gives more of a shit than the leader! I dunno, that just seems-"

"Shtap!" I half-yelled. As Mavy sighed and zipped it, Rye straightened up.

"O-okay. So Beck goes to Bassa Village and gets Sinni's help, and... ugh, Mavy and I go to M-Mt. Twist," he summarized. "Is that alright with you two?"

"Yeah," I said. Mavy hesitated for a moment before groaning lightly.

"Aight," he said. With a decision reached, Rye grimly nodded, gesturing us to follow him back into town. Shooting Mavy an apologetic look, I followed as the Treecko looked over his shoulder at me.

"C-could I see our Poké, Beck? We're gonna need an extra bag, I think," he said.

* * *

Hunched over a shiny new bag, I counted up the berries and seeds Rye had lent me one last time. After making sure my notebook was tucked safely in one of the pockets, I gave a satisfied nod.

"Am rehdy," I said, turning to my teammates as they waited on their straw beds. Lacing his fingers, Rye quietly nodded, so the three of us walked out of our quarters. Taking a look back, I sighed.

"Eh..." I tried.

"Yeah. Um... I guess this is goodbye. F-for now," Rye said. I gave a nod, and after a minute of awkward silence, I adjusted the strap around my neck and cleared my throat.

"Um, Rye, Maaf... shaah," I said. Rye cracked a smile.

"You too," he said, slowly turning to walk away.

"Don't die on me, aight?" Mavy requested before going to follow. With a few looks back, the two walked up the road and eventually disappeared around the corner. I took a moment to just stand there, watching that corner as if watching for them to come back. Soon enough, I gave a sharp exhale to try and psych myself up, hopping in place a bit.

_'Right. I'm on my own now. Here we go, I guess.'_

With that, I started waddling my way out of the Guild proper, making a turn north on the main road.

Over the next half-hour, I lugged my bag along, not quite used to not having anyone to talk to to distract from the grueling, hilly hike. I'd been this way enough times to encourage myself to keep on, though, and before long, the glint of a lake in the distance came into view. Picking up my pace at the sight of the water, I ran over the plan in my head once more.

In our deliberation, Rye had brought up the problem of transportation. While he'd said he and Mavy could rent out a Flyer to carry them, I'd probably have a harder time finding a ride without getting anyone suspicious. My solution to the problem of getting from here to Bassa Village... well, clearly I'm not a very creative Oshawott.

"Oo's that? Wot're ye... ho-hoi, Oshawott!" Cap'n Brine's voice chimed from above. As I finally plopped down in front of the entrance to his port, the Pelipper fluttered down to greet me.

"Hey," I simply panted, to which Brine gave a chortle.

"Sorry oi didn't recognoize ye there, wot with ye bein' alone! Wot can oi do for ya?" he asked.

"Er, Ba-sha. Fah... fah-lie tah Ba-sha," I tried. Brine's hearty grin faltered a bit.

"Anothah floight to Bassa Village?" he asked.

"Yeah," I reaffirmed. Brine looked down at the dirt path for a moment before clicking his bill.

"Roight. Erm... maybe. Couple terms, though," he said, gesturing me on. As I peeled myself off the ground and made to follow him through the busy port, he cleared his massive, disgusting throat. "First, ye gotta make sure oi don't sprain me leg again. Second, oi'll need anothah favor. See, me roight-hand-mon Piku went an' dropped a Mystic Water in the lake there, an ol' heirloom real 'mportant to her. She wants someone to go in an' get it fer her. Should be roight 'bout there," he explained.

I couldn't help but groan as he gestured to the lake. I'd forgotten about the favor thing Rye had to do last time. If it was what I had to do, though...

"Yeh, sir," I sighed. As Cap'n Brine watched, I dropped my bag to the side, sucked in a breath, and dove in.

Before long, I began to regret my decision. I was used to currents and the flow of rivers, not whatever this was. The stillness of the lake's water just felt wrong to my riverphile Oshawott instincts, and as I swam deeper, I started running into floating mystery substance that a quick look revealed to be algae and just general bleaugh. Seeing this starting to get all over my otherwise white arm, I gave a quite frustrated whine as I realized just why no one else had taken up this job.

_'This lake only exists because of some sort of dam upstream, right? Can I be the first to ask what the actual fuck were they thinking?'_

Gritting my teeth, I started hurriedly scanning the lake's floor for anything that looked shiny. To spare the details of desperately combing the rocky bottom for who knows how long, I eventually breached the lake's surface gasping for fresh air, a Mystic Water in my paw and enough slimy plant matter covering me that I'd probably pass for a Tangrowth. Clawing my way back to shore, I pulled myself onto one of the docks, only getting a moment's rest before Cap'n Brine fluttered down to greet me.

"Shaugh," I complained, holding up the grimy pendant I'd done all that for. Taking it with a foot, Brine offered an apologetic smile.

"Sorry 'bout that. Oi'll be takin' ye to Bassa, then!" he piped, though as I managed a victorious smirk, he quickly seemed to reconsider as he examined my filth-covered self.

"Erm, roight after we get ye get cleaned up. Not puttin' that in me bill," he quickly added.

* * *

'Staraptor and Son Flyer Rental. Guild members get 50% discount. Will fly to Vale Keep, Westgrove-on-Sea, Cape Duct, Ridgend Town, Twistfoot Town...'

Rye swallowed hard as he read the sign, standing at the large shop's entrance. As he stood there biting his tongue, he jumped as Mavy cleared his throat impatiently.

"S-sorry," Rye muttered, stepping through the door. As it turned out, the shop's large size was to accommodate a modest courtyard within its walls, seemingly built to allow Flying-types to fly out easier. Looking around for a bit, Rye spied a Staravia, who he guessed was the son in the shop's title. However, as he approached and made to talk to him, he hesitated.

He didn't want to do this. He really didn't. It'd been over a year now since he'd laid eyes on Twistfoot Town, and for good reason, he figured. It wasn't too late to call it quits and get another team to help Zangoose. Surely Mavy wouldn't judge if he understood where he was coming from...

_'No. Remember what Sinni said. You can't keep running. Easier said than done, but... eugh, here goes.'_

"S-sir?" Rye asked. The Staravia turned his head.

"Ah, hey. Welcome to Staraptor and Son. What do you need?" he asked.

"Uh... f-flight for two to... ugh, t-to Twistfoot Town, please," Rye forced out, wincing as he did so. The Staravia nodded and hopped away, leaving Mavy to give Rye a look. He didn't quite understand what had the Treecko so worked up here, but he decided to save it as Staravia returned.

"Weather's looking good there, apparently, so we can do that. Who'd you like to fly you today?" he asked. "If you want speed, I'd recommend Pidgeot, he can fly you over there before noontime even passes."

Mavy gulped hard as Staravia continued talking.

"If you want a more leisurely flight, our Altaria just came back. She flies slow, so it'll be around dusk when you get there. It's the most comfortable option, though, so there's that. For efficiency, there's Bravia-" he said.

"Th-the slow one's good. It's mah first time flyin', I'd rather not die." Mavy hurriedly said.

"Right. Flight with Altaria from Impetus Town to Twistfoot Town, should come down to 2,000 Poké. I'll go sort things out with the old bird, and I'll circle on back to you," Staravia nodded before fluttering up to a window in the wall. As Mavy gave a quick sigh of relief, Rye shot his own look at the Zigzagoon.

"A-an Altaria? Like, I guess, but... really?" he asked dubiously. Mavy rebutted with a soft glare.

"You didn't consider not flyin' fast enough to break yer neck the first time you flew?" he asked.

"I thought we were in a hurry," Rye reasoned.

"I survived a whole day in a dungeon, I'll go ahead and guess he'll be able to last," Mavy shrugged. Rye sighed, but chose not to pursue this any further. If he had learned anything over the past couple days, it was that screaming at a brick wall was a more productive use of time than arguing with this Pokemon.

As the two stood there silently giving each other the cold shoulder, Staravia flew back in, followed by what could only be described as a large cloud with a bird head, who gave a simple wave with her massive wing. At the sight of the Altaria, Rye gave his own wave, then fished for the money pouch as Mavy gaped at the unfamiliar creature.

"Alright, so if that's a hundred, then... o-okay," he muttered, giving a handful of dull coins to Staravia who, upon quickly counting them, gave a satisfied nod.

"Cool. Thank you for flying with Staraptor and Son, keep in mind we're not responsible for any incident that may occur, and enjoy your flight," he said, leaving Rye and Mavy to start clambering onto Altaria's back. While Rye had to admit that her back did feel quite nice once he got onto it, he couldn't help but feel discontent about this.

_'We're wasting precious time by flying like this. Just... this just feels wrong.'_

Mavy, on the other hand, seemed to heartily disagree as he collapsed onto the mass of cloudlike feathers, giving a content groan.

"Shit, 'mon, it's like... bed but better. If I'd known these kinda Flyers exist..." he sighed, rolling onto his back and getting cozy, much to Rye's distaste. As he inched away from the Zigzagoon, Altaria looked over her shoulder at them.

"You lot ready?" she asked. Rye hesitated one last time, looking back at the door. Soon enough, though, he sighed and nodded, prompting Altaria to hop over to the center of the courtyard and spread her mighty wings.

With a hard flap, Rye found himself tightly hugging the dragon-bird's back as she began to ascend. Tearing his eyes from his current position, the Treecko caught sight of Mavy holding on for dear life but still stealing a look over their steed's side, watching Impetus Town below as it drew farther and farther away. By the time Rye felt safe enough to sit up, the town and the nearby Guild seemed to be nothing more than patches of gridwork shrinking in the horizon as Mavy stared in wonder.

"Dayum," he simply whispered.

"Yeah. That first flight's something you never really forget," Rye said. Mavy gave an absentminded nod, and as the two regarded the view in silence, Altaria finished spiraling upward and started east towards the lands of Gray Orient. As she steadied, Mavy turned to look at Rye, though for once not in a glare.

"When'd you first fly? What was that like?" he asked earnestly. Rye looked over at him, but found no hostility in his demeanor, just curiosity.

"Um... I-I think when Mr. Arden took me and a couple other of the apprentices to Dragons Cap. I, uh, didn't get to actually go to the dungeon, but... yeah, seeing the place was really nice, I guess," he said.

"Who's Mr. Arden?" Mavy asked. Rye did a quick double take to stare at the confused Zigzagoon.

"Wh-what? How do you not know who...?" he asked.

"Small town, I guess. Don't hear that much from outside," Mavy reasoned.

"Oh. W-well, he's a Quilava, and... uh, did you hear about the war? Well, uh, he and Ms. May helped end it by beating Tyranitar, and, uh..." Rye explained, trailing off as Mavy's face scrunched up in hard consideration.

"Wait, wait. You know _that_ Cyndaquil?" he asked. "Then that means... that Leafeon and the Swellow... oh, damn."

Mavy put a paw on his head, apparently a bit overwhelmed by all this. Offering a smile, Rye left him to think. While he was happy to be getting through to Mavy, even if only a bit, there was still the issue he was now flying towards.

Taking one last look back at the now barely-visible Impetus Town, Rye turned his gaze towards the ocean ahead. Biting his lip hard, he let himself relax in Altaria's fluffy feathers, knowing full well what was to come.

_'I've only got till mid-afternoon to prepare. Then... I'll be back._

_...I'm not ready for this...'_

* * *

I'm sure flying's a pretty nice experience. You know, seeing the world from above, feeling the wind in your fur, et cetera. It's a bit of a shame my first experience was in Cap'n Brine's throat, what with all that ethereal sensation being replaced with moist air and the overwhelming stench of fish. Alas, it seems history repeats, so here I was again. I mean, I'm not complaining, but flying with Cap'n Brine was certainly... unique, let's say.

Having given up on asking Brine to stop humming an hour ago, I sat against the keratin of his bill with nothing to do but listen to the shanty he was singing. I'd had Rye to talk to last time, but here I was just bored. Sure, I had the Cap'n, but he apparently wasn't very good company with a Pokemon in his mouth. Thankfully, though, he could manage enough to snap me out of my stupor with a loud exclamation.

"We cahmin' ahp on Baa!" he piped. While I didn't quite catch what he'd tried to say there, I hopefully peeked out of his bill. Sure enough, there was now an anomaly in the rolling desert dunes we'd been flying over for an hour now: the rapidly growing Bassa Village.

As Brine began to circle around the village's gate, I noticed a large figure running out the gate, stopping to watch us as we came in for a landing. Thankfully, Brine made a soft touchdown on the sand this time around, allowing me to heave my way out of his bill without issue. After lying on the soft, hot ground for a minute, I looked up to see ahead of me. Sure enough, under the cobbled-together gate welcoming me to Bassa Village, a familiar Feraligatr stared us down as she crossed her arms, looking quite intimidating as she gave a heavy sigh.

"Magnezone told me what happened. You know you're not supposed to be here, right?" Sinni asked. I gulped hard. I hadn't thought about her knowing about that, what was I supposed to do here?

_'Maybe I could just crawl back into Brine's bill and have him fly me to the next continent over before she arrests me?'_

Thankfully, however, my fears appeared to be unfounded as her face broke into her signature crocodile smile.

"But you know, sometimes the law can kiss one," she said as she walked over to pick up and squeeze my gross, slobbery self in a tight hug. "Nice to see you, little fella!"

"Agh, Sh-sheeni!" I choked out. Being a seven-foot monster practically made of muscle, Sinni thankfully stopped with the greeting before she could break any ribs, though she still stuck me onto her shoulder as she walked into Bassa Village, gesturing Cap'n Brine to follow. Now face-to-face, she rolled an eye back to look at me.

"Where's Rye? Did he come?" she asked.

"Nah, uh... T-Tshee... T-sha. Tshwegh," I tried before hanging my head and giving a groan. It seemed my butchering of the Unov- er, Graytongue language was enough for Sinni to get the message, though, as she stopped in her tracks.

"He's at Twist?" she asked, her voice softer.

"Yeah," I replied. Sinni took a minute to let that sink in.

"But he... he can't... eugh. I guess. If he managed to get himself to go, then, you know, that's definitely progress," she reasoned, continuing her stride into her house. Nothing had changed from when we'd been here last, so as Sinni squatted down to let me hop onto the floor, I took a moment to take it in.

_'Has it really only been two weeks? Feels like it's been, like, six months.'_

"Alright, so I'll be at the station till sundown gettin' ready for tomorrow. You wanna stay here or come with?" Sinni said. I paused my looking around to gape at her.

"What? Mah-ro?" I asked.

"Yeah, you weren't actually expecting to kick down those assholes' door today, were you? There's a whole process we gotta go through before that," Sinni said. Seeing me hang my head, she let out a sigh. "Sorry, that's bureaucracy for you, kid. I'm not sure why you'd wanna get into a scuffle now, though. Like, come on, I read the report."

I thought this over for a bit before sighing.

"Yeah, okeh," I said, nodding as I set my bag down to the side. Sinni gave a smirk.

"That's the spirit. So how about coming to the station with me?" she offered. I responded with a shrug and a nod, prompting the officer to pick me up once more and head outside.

"Make yourself comfortable, Captain. We'll be a while," she called back to Cap'n Brine as he rested on the roof.

"Ah, thank ye, officer," he said gratefully, quickly flying off the roof and through Sinni's door. Adjusting myself as to not fall off her shoulder, I looked ahead as she lumbered on.

"So I see you managed to add a bit to your vocabulary?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," I nodded sheepishly.

"Alright, should mean there shouldn't be a problem with 'mons at the station," Sinni said. Seeing my worried expression, she offered a grin. "Don't worry, I'm just messing with you. I'd stick with Nick if I were you, but they all should be good. You know, except Betty. That bitch."

With that comforting observation, I held on, nervous but hopeful for the days to come as she trudged towards the ramshackle police station.

_'Is that a station, though? It looks more like some kind of Ferris wheel... right, the whole human town thing. Actually, now that I think about it, I think I remember something like this..._

_Well, Beck, welcome to... uh, Nimbasa Town, I guess.'_

* * *

" _S-so what you're trying to say is that that stash of thieves' treasure's still under the mountain?" the Treecko asked dubiously. Sitting across from him, his Totodile friend gave a wide-mawed grin._

" _Where else could it be? No one ever said they found it! Come on, think about it! We could be rich! Every Guild in Gray Orient'll be scrambling for a bit of it! We'd be heroes!" he piped. Rye stopped to think about it for a moment._

" _...I mean, I guess. But, like, do I have to go in alone?" he asked. Dill snorted._

" _Yeah, you're the designated dungeon-diver!" he reasoned. Rye gave a light sigh._

" _I mean, I don't know," he said._

" _Come on, what are you, a scaredy-Skitty?" Dill asked. Rye narrowed his eyes._

" _I mean, I'd assume, uh, you're the scaredy-Skitty. I mean, why else would you be trying so hard to get me to go?"_

_Dill tried to form a response, but ultimately found none before their thoughts were interrupted._

" _Rye! Dill! Dinner's up!" Sceptile called down._

" _W-we're coming!" Rye called before looking back. "I'll give you fifty Poke if you go in and scout beforehand."_

_Dill considered the offer for a moment before giving a crocodile grin._

" _Deal!" he said._

" _A-alright, weekly meeting adjourned, then. Team Horizon!" Rye declared._

" _Team Horizon!" Dill replied before the two hurriedly climbed the rope ladder hanging from the hatch and-_

"Treecko?" Mavy called, nudging Rye into consciousness. The Treecko stirred in Altaria's cozy feathers as he tried to regain his bearings.

"Wh... uh, wh-what?" he asked, groggily sitting up before getting a good look around. The sun was setting in the distance, though it was blocked by monolithic mountains that towered into the sky. Looking ahead, Rye found a rooftop landing zone, complete with a nice view of the town below as its lights began to glow in the nighttime.

Mavy took another awestruck look around, as he had never seen anything like this, but as he looked to Rye for his thoughts, he found him shivering in place, his face becoming pale as he stared at the tallest and closest of the mountains. After a few minutes of this, he swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped off Altaria, his Zigzagoon partner following confusedly as he continued to fearfully stare up at the dormant volcano ahead.

For better or for worse, Rye was home.


	37. Twin Flames Burning

Cold mountain air brushed past Rye and Mavy as they walked down the empty dirt roads of Twistfoot Town. The sun had set by this point, so lanterns now lit the path ahead, the stone houses around them, and the rest of the small town as it seemed to loom above the rooftops, following the slope up the foot of Mount Twist. As Mavy kept looking around at what was already all too familiar to Rye, the Treecko pulled out the job's notice, peering at the bottom print. Team Luster had wanted to meet in the square, it seemed, so going off memory alone, he led his Zigzagoon partner towards the main road.

As they turned onto the road, the two stopped as an unexpected anomaly came into earshot: music. Rye's eyes lit up a bit as fond memories came rushing back.

"You hearin' that?" Mavy asked.

"Y-yeah. I guess they're doing the Festival early this year," Rye nodded. Being the uncultured rodent he was, Mavy looked at him in confusion.

"The wut-now?" he asked. Rye gestured him on, leading him up towards the main square.

"It's the Festival of Groudon. It... uh, I-I don't know how to explain it, just..." he said.

"How do you know that? Didja stop by here at some point?" Mavy asked. Rye hesitated a bit.

"N-no, I, uh... I-I lived here," he admitted quietly. Mavy gave a quick noise of understanding, glad to finally be getting somewhere with his team leader. With this in mind, the two stopped as lights ahead came into view. On the path and square ahead, it seemed all two hundred of the town's Pokémon were gathered in some sort of celebration. Their excited chattering, festive tunes, and the crackling of a large bonfire all met Rye's earlobes as he let Mavy watch.

"Th-they should be in there... uh, d-do you mind if we try and find another way around? I don't-" he began.

"Ah, come on, let's go!" Mavy urged him.

"Eugh... a-alright... oh, I-I need to do something, meet me at the fire," Rye said before walking into the square. As Mavy strayed off to investigate one of the festival's many food vendors, Rye perked up as he spied a familiar Marowak at the square's edge handing out painted, full-face bone masks. He'd always been so friendly in festivals past, surely he wouldn't call him out...

"Mr. Ma- er, sir? I'd like a mask, please," Rye said. The Marowak looked up, creases of a smile showing through the eyeholes of his skull.

"Of course, which..." he trailed off, his hidden smile seeming to melt away as he stared into Rye's eyes. "...Treecko? Is that you?" he asked quietly after a bit.

Rye gave him a pleading look. After a bit of hesitation, Marowak grimly nodded and silently pushed him one of the festive masks, much to his relief.

"Th-thank you," Rye hurriedly whispered as he tied the mask to his head. He knew it probably wouldn't do much good, seeing as the rest of his body was visible here, but he figured hiding his face would at least lower the risk of anyone recognizing him.

With the vibrant symbol of Groudon now obscuring his face, he gave the rather gloomy-looking Marowak a quick nod and headed for a seat near the bonfire, where he sat until he was joined Mavy not long after. Rye couldn't help but smirk as he noted the beads around his neck, the meat on a stick he was gnawing on, and the Bidoof next to him he was eyeing. One of them was enjoying themselves, at least.

"Hey, girl. Uh, I like yer tail," the Zigzagoon said. The Bidoof he was flirting with shot him a look of revulsion, causing him to wince to himself. "W-wait, tail? No, I didn't mean to say-" he said hurriedly as she hobbled away. Sighing to himself, Mavy turned to look at Rye before jumping back in panic.

"Waagh! Wh... what're you doing wearing that creepy mask?" he asked.

"It's not creepy. I-it's traditional," Rye said. Shuddering, Mavy picked up his fallen morsel as he looked into the fire.

"Yeah, it's alright because tradition, got it. What's this thing about anyways?" he asked.

"Uh... so you know how Mount Twist, uh, erupts, right?" Rye asked, immediately regretting it as Mavy gave him a flat look. As he struggled to come back from that acute observation, he noticed the crowd starting to part. "Eugh, w-well, uh, just watch."

As the two watched, an Excadrill marched through the parted crowd, carrying a platter stacked with food.

_'The juiciest cut of meat, the ripest berries, the richest loaf of bread... that's how Mom always explained it, anyways.'_

As the Excadrill reached the fire, he raised the platter above his iron-coated head.

"I dedicate this offering to the lord of the mountain, Groudon! May he spare this fine town another year!" he declared before tossing the platter into the bonfire. A loud cheer erupted from the crowd as Rye cast a look up at the smoke from the burning food, then at Mt. Twist as it loomed.

"Ah don't get it," Mavy said.

"Neither do I," Rye admitted.

"Well, I mean, if it works..." Mavy started.

"I-I don't believe it does," Rye said. Mavy gave him a sideways glance.

"Why not?" he asked. Rye paused for a minute, grimacing from behind his mask.

"I-I don't wanna talk about it," he said bitterly. Mavy gave him a long look, though Rye couldn't help but point out something other than disdain in his gaze. Sympathy, maybe? He couldn't tell.

As Mavy turned his gaze back to the fire, Rye took a quick look around, then froze as he caught a glance of what they'd come here for: Nidorino and Raboot watching the fire from a nearby building. Hurrying to his feet, he practically dragged Mavy along as he tried to protest through the food in his muzzle.

"H-hey! Mr. Nidorino, it's us, we're here for the job!" Rye said, lifting his mask to reveal his face. Team Luster's glum faces lit up as they caught sight of the two.

"Treecko? Zigzagoon? Well, shit, small world! Must've sent that call to thirty Guilds, what're the odds?" Nidorino piped before hanging his head sullenly. "Yeah, so... uh, we were in the Path dungeon and a bunch of ferals jumped us on the third floor. Zangoose just told us to go on ahead and that he'd hold them off. Last we saw, he was running towards the stairs, so... y'know, we're hoping he's okay in there."

Rye and Mavy both nodded.

"Aight, so when we headin' out?" Mavy asked.

"Dawn tomorrow. As much as we hate to wait, you know how those first couple floors are at night. Here, come have a seat for now, we'll be able to get things sorted out later," Raboot offered.

Giving a quick sigh of relief, Rye slipped his mask back on and took a seat next to the pair, watching as the festival continued. Looking over at Mavy as he kept gnawing at his morsel, he gave a sigh.

_'I kinda wish Beck were here. I feel like he'd have fun here. Mavy's alright and all, but yeah._

_I wonder how Beck's doing, anyways?'_

* * *

"Snork?" Sinni snored as she pried open her eyes. Blinking fog out of her vision, she sat up and briefly checked out the window, seeing the sun beginning to crest over the concrete rubble next door. She gave a grin to herself.

"Right on schedule. Fuck yeah," she said as she hopped to her feet, shaking the house as she landed.

Tromping over to the living area, she caught sight of Beck curled up on the floor as he laid there sleeping. Sinni watched him for a bit before chuckling a bit and continuing with her morning routine. They'd been up for a while last night, and she didn't have the heart to wake him up just yet, not looking like that. She'd give him a bit.

As she slipped on her police sash, though, she stopped as she heard a peculiar noise coming from behind. Looking back, she found that Beck had started to toss and turn in his sleep, his breath picking up as he did so.

"Sh-sha... shaah..." he muttered, clearly in distress. Sinni hurried over and nudged him with a massive finger to wake him up, though he only continued to cry out in his sleep. Now concerned, Sinni nudged him again, though nothing changed.

"Shit, uh... kid. Kid? Come on, wake up. Wake up, dammit... Beck!"

* * *

_Oh, no. No, nonono..._

As I found myself in the passenger seat of an unfamiliar body, it surveyed the several very old-looking buildings around it, clicking its claws idly as it did so. A Scizor, I guessed. A quick look around revealed it to be treading quietly alongside several other Pokémon around me as they walked through the ruins, all following a stillfaced Xatu as he looked over what looked to have been the largest building. Through the greenery covering the building's facade, I could make out an emblem carved into it: a shield emblazoned with a letter P.

"This thing better be in here, else I'll just..." my body warned, snapping its wicked pincers in warning. An unfazed Xatu nodded.

"It will be in here. Make haste, I do not doubt the adventurer teams will be far behind," he instructed. As I looked on, my body followed the group, pausing only long enough to look up at the well-worn engraving above the door.

_Welcome to Team Plasma, Pinwheel Forest Division? What... what is this place? What's Team Plasma?_

After a few minutes of walking through the decrepit facility's remains, Xatu held up a wing, stopping before some sort of door. As my body peered at it, a sudden crash rang out from far behind, followed by several voices. My body swore to itself.

"It's a Society team! Come on, we gotta move!" it urged. Xatu sighed before suddenly stopping, turning his head to stare directly at me.

_Crap. Uh... h-hi?_

After staring into my body's eyes for a moment, he ground his beak, though the sound of the incoming adventurers seemed to compel him to ignore me, psychically rip the door off its hinges, and lead us inside.

Inside what I guessed used to be a warehouse of some sort, there seemed to be nothing but rubble, though Xatu seemed confident as he shut his eyes and concentrated. After a minute, though, he opened his eyes and stared forward, clearly confused.

"What? That cannot be," he muttered.

"What happened?" someone asked from behind me. Xatu looked up, his crests raised.

"The orb is not here," he said, just a bit of disbelief in his voice.

_Wait, what?_

My body's eye twitched.

"WHAT?! You led us all the way out here for...?!" it screamed.

"Scizor, now's not a good time!" a Conkeldurr pointed out besides me as the sounds of approaching adventurers grew ever louder. Hearing this, my body's pincers twitched in rage as it faced Xatu.

"I fucking told you it was a myth! There's no such thing as a Lustrous Orb, and now we... we... g-graAAAGH!"

With an enraged cry, it quickly lunged forward, intending to snip Xatu's head straight off. The bird simply sighed before teleporting away, causing my body to sail through where he'd been and tumble to the ground. As it propped itself up, it looked up to find what looked like five adventurer teams barging into the room.

"You're under arrest! Put your paws in the air!" a Meowth demanded, his Shinx partner sparking in an attempt at intimidation. My body and its teammates stared at the dozen Pokémon facing us before it sighed.

"If we're going down, we sure as distortion aren't making it easy for you," it said, raising a pincer and charging.

As the others around me followed suit, I watched as my body tried to hack away and fire off techniques at its adversaries, though it wasn't long before I felt an attack land, sending my body to the ground as it doubled over in pain. It only had enough time to get a look at the Litleo pinning it down before getting a faceful of red-hot flames.

My body and I both screamed in unison for a second before the lack of air sent the two of us spiraling into unconsciousness. The oxygen around me only fed the flames as I felt armor begin to melt...

I woke up with a start, gasping for air as I sat up reaching for my previously burning face. As I managed to slow down my breathing and get a grip on reality, I became aware of Sinni picking me up and holding me in front of her, shaking me worriedly.

"Beck! Beck, come on back to me!" she yelled as her voice faded in.

"Sh-sha..." I weakly whined. Sinni let out a loud sigh of relief and pulled me into another uncomfortably tight embrace.

"Okay, you're okay... you had me worried there, don't do that," she demanded. As I tried to push myself away from her, I considered what I'd just seen.

_'They didn't get the L... uh, the thing. They failed._

_You've got a chance here, Beck... ha...'_

* * *

As the brilliant colors of the sunrise began to rise over the mountains to the west, Rye and Mavy followed Team Luster out of their inn. Around them, the peaceful mountain town had quieted down, though rather than the snow-shoveling and idling about that morning usually saw, most Pokémon in the square were working to clean up the mess from the previous night's festival. Scraps of food, discarded masks and beads, and ash from the bonfire all laid strewn about as the group tiptoed past them and towards the path to Mount Twist.

As the pile of charcoal that had been the bonfire smoldered in the center of the square, Rye couldn't help but stare at it. Just the visual of such a thing was enough to make him feel sick; it looked far too much like... like...

" _Rye! Rye, we have to go!"_

" _Wh-what? Mom? What's happening?"_

" _It's the mountain! It's erupting, we need to go!"_

" _...oh... n-no, no... this can't be real... no, NO, NO!"_

" _Rye! No, Rye, come back!"_

" _DILL! DILL!"_

With a violent shiver, he tore his eyes away from the pile, tailing Nidorino as he shifted the bag on his back. They had already resupplied and planned out their course of action the previous night, so all that was left to do was to take the short hike up to Twist Path.

"So how long'll it be before we get there, again?" Mavy asked after a few minutes walk.

"Shouldn't be no more than half a mile. We'll have to do a bit of climbing before we hit the dungeon, so try to keep up," Raboot said. Mavy peered into the distance, giving a confused look.

"Er, but the entrance's just up ahead, ain't it?" he pointed out. The group looked at the warning sign looming over a large, dark opening in the side of the mountain, though Nidorino waved it off.

"That's the Cave dungeon, the Path is the one we want," he said, gesturing Rye and Mavy along a fork in the road, up which a jagged path snaked up the mountain. Mavy shot the foreboding cave a look before heading to follow Nidorino and Raboot.

As he walked along, he couldn't help but grit his teeth at the rocks under his paws. He was used to pine needles and sticks, not dust and pointy pebbles. Annoyed, he looked back to see what Rye thought of this, though suddenly stopped. Nidorino and Raboot were quick to look back to see what was the matter.

"...where's Treecko?" Nidorino asked. The trio quickly started looking around, finding no sign of him, so they quickly started backtracking down the path. After a minute, they caught sight of Rye still standing before the cave entrance. Concerned, Mavy zigzagged over to see what was the matter.

"Treecko?" he asked.

"He's still in there... h-he's still in there..." Rye mumbled under his breath, tears running down his face as he cast a thousand-yard stare towards the cave.

As Nidorino and Raboot watched concernedly, Mavy bit his lip and gave him a hard nudge. Though Rye winced, blinked hard, and quit muttering, he didn't break his gaze as Raboot gently took him by the hand and led him along. Mavy was not sure what to think at this point, but looking at Rye as he shuddered and sniffled to himself, he decided now was not the time to pursue answers here.

The small party continued quietly for the next ten minutes or so until they stopped, seeing the gravel road dissolving into dirt as it passed into the dungeon ahead. With the telltale sign looming large over them, Nidorino sighed.

"Right. Zangoose should hopefully be somewhere on the fifth floor. You two ready?" he asked. With nods from Rye and Mavy, the group ventured in.

"Okay, Maverick, first official dungeon dive. Stay cool," Mavy mumbled to himself. As a still-shaken Rye felt the air chill around him, he bit his tongue and tried to give himself his own bout of motivation.

_'…_

_What would Beck say about now? Uh, probably something like... Rye, shaah. You're fine. It's okay._

_Okay, that's a dumb question, there's not a lot to pick from there. Just... this isn't the cave, Rye. The mountain's not gonna erupt. You're gonna be alright...'_

* * *

**Mount Twist Path**

**2F**

"BYAAARR!"

A massive feral Beartic loomed over the group as it guarded the cold, rocky path, its claws unsheathed and its eyes screaming murder. Rye and Mavy stumbled back in fear, though Raboot simply responded to the Beartic's challenge by attacking it with a Flame Charge, setting the beast on fire. As it thrashed and roared in an attempt to put it out, Raboot kicked it in the back of the legs, sending it to the ground in front of Nidorino, who finished the job with a Poison Sting straight between its eyes. With a crunch and a steady flow of blood from the wound, the Beartic went limp, much to Rye's horror.

"D... did you just...?" he asked.

"It's a dungeon feral. No one's gonna miss it. Er, no offense," Raboot shrugged, simply walking around the Beartic's body.

His stomach churning, Rye stumbled on after them. As the shock of what he'd seen wore off, he gulped with his dry throat and grabbed for the canteen in his bag. He hadn't ever been allowed this far up the mountain, and he most definitely was not used to the thinner air. Taking a short swig, he took a quick peek inside. By the looks of it, there'd be enough for him to-

"Could I have a sip?" Mavy asked. Rye deadpanned a bit, though popped the canteen open again and handed it to his partner. Mavy's quadruped stature made it more difficult than he'd have liked, though he eventually found himself greedily lapping up what water he could.

"Whew, thanks. This place does a number on ya, huh? And this is just floor two..." he observed once he'd had his fill.

"Y-yeah," Rye halfheartedly agreed, dismayed at how much water had been used up by now.

"It'd sure be nice if we had Beck, you know? Could just vomit in here and we'd be set. Or does it not work like that?" Mavy asked. Rye didn't bother answering, only sending him a Look as Nidorino put a paw in the air, signaling that there were stairs ahead.

_'Okay, nice. We're already half done. See, Rye? This isn't so bad.'_

"Treecko? Um, could I talk to you 'bout... y'know, stuff?" Mavy asked.

_'...oh, no.'_

* * *

"Right, so before we begin, I'd like to say something real fast. You all remember Oshawott from yesterday, I presume. I'm happy to announce he'll be assisting us in today's operation," Sinni piped.

As I stood before the entirety of Bassa Village's police force, I gave a sheepish wave as the whopping six policemon gave Sinni a confused look.

"Er, Sinni, ma'am. Why're you bringing... y'know, a little Oshawott along?" a Herdier asked.

"Well, see, Nick-" Sinni began.

"And it's a feral, right? I mean, I wouldn't have picked it for this," a Miltank asked from the corner. Sinni forced a smile as she pulled me close.

"Betty, I will strangle you," she mumbled quietly before clearing her throat. "Oshawott here wanted to go, so he is going to be my wingmon. I expect you all to respect him as such, and if he tells me you've crossed him, there'll be consequences. Water ration-related, might I add."

That threat seemed to be enough to shut the Miltank up, so Sinni nodded and turned to the crudely-sketched plan behind her.

"The plan of attack will be pretty straightforward: we head in through the front door here and fan out. If you see anyone, grab 'em. If they fight back, kick their teeth in," she instructed. "Now, the building they chose incorporates an old human structure, so it goes without saying the place is fragile. No unneeded attacks. Got it?"

A murmur of understanding arose from the few Pokémon in the room, earning a confident crocodile smile from Sinni.

"Let's ride, then. Arkus, go ahead and look over the perimeter, we'll meet you there," she instructed, sticking me on her shoulder as per usual. As the Flygon nodded and ran outside, Sinni led all in the room but the Miltank into the morning sun. As she marched through the tiny little town, I leaned over to look her in the eye.

"Tanks," I said, gesturing back at the station and getting a snort Sinni.

"Not a problem. After all, she who controls the water controls the town. Shit gets done 'round here," she said.

"Yeah... er, mah shall?" I asked, pointing to my empty chest.

"Hm? Ah, the scalchop. Sorry, I don't exactly have any spares lying around, you'll just have to make do. Maybe you could bash some heads in with a rock instead," Sinni shrugged, stopping as she peered up at a shape in the sky. Before long, it revealed itself as the Flygon, who didn't bother landing as he beat his massive wings.

"Perimeter is secure, ma'am. We can go ahead as planned," he said. With that in mind, I held on as Sinni confidently tromped the rest of the way before stopping before a half-buried structure. We were a fair ways out of town at this point, and the decrepit building we were now looking at was almost entirely hidden by sand. I wasn't sure what it was; some kind of mall, maybe?

I didn't have time to contemplate this, though, as Sinni set me down and counted down on her fingers to the others. As she reached zero, we all barged in, all but me with attacks at the ready.

"Bassa Village Police!" Sinni roared. Her announcement was met with nothing but silence, much to my initial confusion. Where was the resistance? From what I'd seen, I'd expected at least some action.

Peering around and finding that we were indeed alone in the room, Sinni looked over her shoulder at the others.

"Split off in pairs. Retreat and regroup if any hostiles are too much for you. Arkus, you keep an eye from above. Beck, you stay with me," Sinni instructed, throwing them all unlit torches from her bag.

As the others around me warily went off in different directions, I tailed the Feraligatr as she lit her own torch and walked deeper into the building's interior. The room before us had a good few holes in the ceiling, meaning sand had half-filled the place, though that didn't stop Sinni from scanning the decrepit booths lining the walls. She paused at one of the windows, narrowing her eyes before jumping in. Finding no one, she moved on to continue systematically checking every booth she came across.

"Shaa," I complained after what must have been the fifteenth check.

"I know, I know. Boring shit. Well, get used to it, because dammit if this place isn't massive," Sinni growled. As she stomped along, I hurriedly followed as she muttered.

"What'd they even need all this shit for? Really, what could possibly require this much fuckin'-"

"A shahp?" I said. Sinni almost immediately chuckled at the notion.

"Well, that's certainly a guess. Like, really, why all this for a shop? You could fit a hundred big-city markets in here and still have room. Like, come on, what would they sell in here, Wailord carcasses?" she asked. I shrugged, looking out over the massive, sand-filled ruin and briefly wondering just how this thing was still standing. If it'd taken this long to clear a single room of this place...

Yeah, this was definitely going to take a while.

* * *

**Mount Twist Path**

**3F**

"Ever since yesterday, I've noticed you've kinda been in a mood, right? With what you told me back in town and how you sorta broke back there, well..."

Mavy hesitated as he and Rye followed Team Luster through the rough stone trench the dungeon boasted, snow crunching beneath their feet.

"...I reckon I've got an idea of why. But, er, could ya fill me in?" he requested. Rye shot him a light glare, though relaxed a bit as Mavy bit his lip, not looking confrontational as he had feared. "Aight, I know, I know. I'm just curious is all," he said.

Rye simply kept walking as he thought the request over. At first, his better judgment resoundingly rejected. It'd been painful enough explaining it to Beck, why repeat it with this Pokémon, especially at the place it had happened? However, as he thought about it more, he began to consider. He'd grown a good bit, and he felt somewhat more able to regale what had happened. Besides, he'd already blurted out enough for Mavy to get an idea of what had happened. There was no point in hiding it...

"...i-it was my friend," he finally said. Mavy whipped his head to the side, his ears sticking up in anticipation as Rye slowed down to put distance between them and Team Luster.

"It was, like, three years ago..." he began quietly, gritting his teeth as the memories rose up like vomit...

" _HELP! Help, I can't... he's... H-HELP!"_

" _I heard something over here, lemme... oh, sweet fuck. May! May, there's a kid under here! Yeah, under the tree, help me get it off him!"_

" _...alright, he's out, Arden. It's okay, you're alright now. We're gonna get you back home, alright? Pike, take him back to-"_

" _N-NO! H-HE'S STILL IN THERE! HE... H-HE'S STILL...!"_

" _..."_

" _May, stay with him! Pike, look for anyone else! I'm heading in!"_

" _...it's okay, Treecko. You're okay. He's gonna be okay."_

" _H-he's still in there... he's still in there..."_

"...I don't know. I-I wanted to go in, I wanted to scream, I wanted to curse myself to distortion and back, but... a-all I could do was just cry and stay with Ms. May... th-then Mr. Arden warped back with Dill..."

Rye barely held back a sob as the horrid image flashed past his mind's eye.

"Th-the look he was giving me... I-I don't know if he was angry, if he was disappointed, if he was trying to, like, comfort me, I don't know! And... I-I just held him there like that as he died. I..."

He couldn't continue any further. As he trudged along in silence, Mavy hung his head, his eyes wide.

"Zekrom's wings. So that's why... and here I just thought you were just bein' uptight for the heck of it..." he mused. Rye didn't even bother responding to that as he blinked back tears, though made himself straighten up.

"Th-that's really why I wanted to make this team. I can't let that happen to anyone else. A-and... well, Dill always wanted that. I-I just... it's the least I can do after... that," he choked out. Mavy nodded, contemplating these words for a minute.

"I... I just don't wanna be a nobody, honestly. Like, I don't know mah grandpaw's name, and... well, you live in Littora Town, you get forgotten. I really just don't want that, and, well, explorin' just felt like something I could try out to not just be a blink in history, and with Pa still off for work... yeah," he said. Rye looked over at Mavy, surprised at his opening up.

"Uh... h-how's that going?" he asked. Mavy sighed.

"Well, the past couple days have been pretty shit, but other than that," he observed. Rye's eyes widened.

"O-oh... I'm sorry," he said.

"It's fine. Tell ya what, let's start off fresh, aight? Get the shit out of our systems and see if we can't try to do it again," Mavy suggested. Rye cocked his head.

"H-huh?" he asked, wiping off his snout.

"Here, I'll start," Mavy said, clearing his throat. "Yer ma's a Dedenne and ya pa smells like Orens!"

Rye winced, confused at the sudden insult.

"Wh-what?" he asked softly.

"Now you insult me back. We go back n' forth till we feel better," Mavy explained. Now understanding, Rye gulped hard. He was never one to insult someone, but...

"Uh. Y-your... your face is, er... that muzzle, i-it looks like you ran into a wall," he tried.

"Hm. Decent. Better than anything else ya say, I think. Like, w-w-w-why y-y-y-ya gotta t-t-t-talk like this all the time?" Mavy rebutted. Rye narrowed his eyes.

"Well, at least I do something. You've barely done anything since you got here."

"I'm at least better at interactin' with other Pokémon than the feral."

"E-every time you do talk, it's to be, like, entitled or something!"

"It's somethin' other than 'ooh, look at poor, sad lil me,' ya know?"

"Y-you... asshole!"

"Oh, you want an asshole? Saw a nice hole in the wall back at the inn you could use!"

"G-go to distortion!"

"Prick!"

"Dickhead!"

"Eat Garbodor nuggets!"

"F-fuck you!"

As Team Luster looked back concernedly, Rye and Mavy panted, glaring into each other's eyes as they quit yelling at each other. Before long, the two seemed to relax.

"Y-yeah, that got a lot off my chest. S-sorry," Rye said.

"Same here. Here's hopin' we won't have to do that again, eh, Rye?" Mavy asked. Rye let himself smile as the two hurried on ahead, finding their clients giving them a long, horrified look.

"...are you two okay?" Nidorino eventually asked.

"Peachy," Mavy said as he and Rye walked ahead of them. As they walked, however, sounds of claws scraping against stone started to erratically echo along the path. Raboot groaned.

"Great, you screamed too loud and a feral heard. Here, let us take care of this one," he said as he and Nidorino stepped in front of the two and assumed stances. As the feral came into view, however, their stances faltered as their confident expressions morphed into absolute horror.

"ZAAH!" the feral screeched, unsheathing its wicked claws in challenge. Rye gasped; he knew that voice...

"Z-Zangoose..." Nidorino choked out.

* * *

"Hwah!" I cried out, swinging my tail into the ground and kicking up a cloud of sand. From across the spacious room I was in, Sinni shot me a look, having had to deal with this for half an hour at this point.

"I'm sure you'll get it eventually," she said, annoyance clear in her voice as she tried to fan away the sand blowing in her face.

Bored with just poking through this empty ruin for so long, I'd taken to trying to hone my techniques in preparation for a fight I was starting to doubt would come by this point. With the apparent delicateness of this place in mind, I'd ruled out Water Gun, so I hadn't been quite sure what to practice.

Then I remembered my sparring with Bert a couple days back. He'd taken me out with an Aqua Tail in that round...

_'Shouldn't be too hard. Just pump energy into your tail and hit someone with it. Simple.'_

As it turned out, it wasn't that simple. Bert had the privilege of a glorious fluffy tail with plenty of mass to pump energy into. I, meanwhile, had a pathetic little Bibarel tail that I'd probably just annoy someone with by using as a weapon. As such, my attempts at an Aqua Tail just felt like a glorified slap as I swung at the floor with it.

_'I mean, not that it'd be entirely useless. Maybe I could call it something like Aqua Slap? Yeah, sure, Aqua Slap it is.'_

Happy to have made at least some progress, I waddled after Sinni as she continued on, clicking her tongue out of boredom. As she tromped down the nearest hall, however, my ears pricked up. Hurrying towards the wall, I listened for a bit, my eyes going wide.

"Sheeni!" I called. Sinni tromped over, though stopped and put her earlobe to the wall as she apparently caught on to what I'd heard: voices on the other side.

"Huh. Well, shit, kid. How'd you manage that?" she asked, impressed. I gave a quick wiggle of my ears before coursing some energy into my tail. It didn't seem like there were any supports I would break, so I uttered a quick prayer as I gave the wall a few hard Aqua Slaps, soon knocking a hole through the fragile material. Sinni and I quickly jumped through, following the source of the voices as they grew louder and louder.

Before long, I jumped into the room they were loudest, my tail ebbing with energy as I glared my opponents down. That attempt at intimidation didn't last long, however, as I got a good look at what I was dealing with.

At least two dozen Pokémon stared back at me, most of them carrying something in their paws or mouths. They quickly dropped their load as they prepared to attack, moving into formation to reveal the worst part of it all: standing under a banner of a bird, Xatu looked up to stare straight into me. As Sinni ran in to flank me, he gave a simple blink.

"Sh-sheeni! Rahn!" I pleaded with her as she leered at the bird.

_'I've seen what this guy can do, I'm not letting her die like that!'_

Ignoring me, she clenched her fists, causing the Phoenixes before us to begin charging attacks as I started trying to tug at her massive fist.

"Nah! Nah! Sheeni!" I cried out.

"Stand down," Xatu suddenly demanded. Every head in the room turned to give him a bewildered look.

"P-pardon?" a Linoone asked.

"I said stand down," Xatu insisted. The Linoone stared at Xatu for a minute.

"S-sir, we ain't about to let-" he started.

"You and Team Horizon were brought here under my jurisdiction. Do not go against me, Linoone," Xatu said. The Linoone gulped and nodded, motioning to the others to stand down as I watched on, dumbstruck. With the threat of attack now gone, Sinni stepped forwards.

"I know who you are, bastard. You're under arrest," she said boldly, handing me her torch. Xatu blinked.

"Officer, do wait. I only wish to have normal conversation. Might you allow me to speak with the Oshawott?" he asked. Sinni looked at me for a second before scoffing and continuing forwards.

"I read the report. You aren't getting anywhere near- ah!" she suddenly exclaimed, her arm held in place as she reached out to grab Xatu's wing. As I watched anxiously, he sighed.

"I simply wish for conversation," he said insistently, pushing Sinni back towards the door. Dusting herself off, she sighed.

"Fine, alright then. Give me your manifesto. Don't try anything, only way out's behind us," she said. Xatu gave a quick nod before looking directly at me.

"I must apologize. We are all somewhat on edge, given the failure at retrieval yesterday and the evacuation here," he said.

"Failure at retrieval?" Sinni asked.

"The... ahb?" I added. Xatu gave a nod.

"Yes, the Lustrous Orb. Likely long in the paws of looters by now. Truly a shame," he said quietly. As I looked on confusedly, Sinni's eye twitched.

"The Lustrous... what?!" she demanded.

Xatu ignored her, choosing instead to keep staring as he held a wing out to his side, gesturing to the room around him.

"Look around you. What do you see? A husk, a shadow, a mere curiosity for brave souls such as yours, perhaps. Of course, it was not always like this. A mere fifteen hundred years ago, this land was open, rolling plains; a perfect fertile plain for man to stake his claim. Ten million once lived in this valley, but now it is worthless desert. Why so? Dear child, have you heard of the Ruin?" he asked.

"Wh-wha?" I asked. When Xatu kept expectantly watching me, I shuddered. "Y-yeah."

Xatu continued to stare at me as the air became tense around us.

"The earth went to war with herself. Continents and oceans tore each other asunder, violent storms ripped cities to shreds, and the fabric of reality itself strained to its limit. Both man and Pokémon fell to their knees, but alas, it was Pokémon that took the mantle. We of the Phoenix League believe that was a mistake of unimaginable proportions. Consider, child. Why must it always be humans taking Pokémon form to set things right? Why is the world, even now, such a chaotic ruin? Why does society stagnate such? Simply put, Pokémon were not meant to rule this world. We wish to see that changed, you see. All I wish from this encounter today is simply that you consider my words. We have no qualm with you, young Oshawott, so please, think over our morals after today. Should you see our cause is just, we will be waiting with open arms," he said.

A moment of silence hung in the air.

"...what the FUCK are you talking about?!" Sinni demanded. "Humans? The Ruin? And are you trying to recruit...? No, I'm not doing this shit! You're coming with us, you looney!"

As she approached Xatu once again, he gave a light sigh, then jerked his head to the side. Before I could do anything, the ground below Sinni cracked, hissing as air escaped from the new opening, then gave way, sending the Feraligatr screaming down a dark hole.

"No!" I yelled, running over to the growing hole in the floor. As I looked inside, Xatu gestured to Linoone, who quickly started running.

"Team Horizon, let's move! Meet with the Psychics at the fork!" he barked, leading the Phoenixes out of the room as Xatu disappeared. I turned to follow, but skidded to a halt as a pained groan echoed out from the hole.

"Seeni?" I asked.

"Beck? Y-you still there?" Sinni's voice called up. I ran over to the edge of the hole, looking down to find her pushing herself up, though she quickly fell back down with a loud hiss of pain.

"Shit! My leg, I think I... agh... wh-what is this place? I don't remember this place having any tunnels like this..." she observed, looking back and forth.

As I pondered this, the ceiling above began to loudly creak, sending bits of debris tumbling onto me. Realizing what this mean, I looked around a bit for some means of escape. Finding none, I instinctively dove into the hole just as the ceiling above me gave, sending sand and debris crashing down onto where I had been. Thankfully, I managed to land on Sinni's belly, her pure muscle saving her from any more broken bones. I stayed there for a bit as everything around me shook, a muffled cacophony of crumbling rock ringing from above.

Soon, the trembling finally let up, so I stood up to check my things. Seeing my bag had been spared, I tried to hand Sinni one of my pulverized berries. With a light chuckle, she stuck what she could in her mouth as we took a look at our surroundings.

As the torch on the ground burned out, it illuminated the concrete tunnel as it seemed to stretch forever in both directions, though there didn't seem to be any signs of an exit. When our torch finally fizzled out, Sinni sighed.

"Shit. What're we gonna do now?" she asked. A few minutes of trying to think a way out of this later, I felt a light rumbling around me.

"S-Seeni?" I whined, hugging the Feraligatr close as I braced for another collapse. However, instead of that, something burst from the ceiling and flew to the floor, the sunlight now shining in illuminating its form as Sinni let out a relieved chuckle.

"Arkus, thank Landorus!" she praised.

"Ma'am? That you? I saw the place collapse and thought I'd dig in to check it out. What happened?" the Flygon asked.

"Phoenixes. That Xatu bastard knocked the floor out from under me, I think I broke my leg real bad on the way down. Can you get us outta here?" Sinni replied. Arkus gave a nod, then flew up and started digging another hole, only this seemed larger in size. Sinni cringed as she tried to sit up, but managed a grin all the same.

"Well, kid... we're alive, that's something," she said.

"Y-yeah," I coughed. As we sat and watched Arkus drill through the earth above, I blinked, my mind traveling to a detail of what I'd just heard from Xatu.

_'The Lustrous Orb... what... what's a Lustrous Orb?’_


	38. Loose Ends

**Mount Twist Path**

**3F**

There appeared to be nothing in Zangoose's eyes as he stared down the party and snarled in warning; only pure animalistic rage. With his fur matted and blood from a fight with some other feral dripping from his mouth, Rye and Mavy could only stare in horror. They knew full well what would happen should one stray off the dungeon path or linger on a floor at the wrong time, but they had hoped they'd never have to see it for themselves, especially not to someone like Zangoose. Yet here he now stood, ready to tear them to ribbons.

Of course, there were none more horrified within the group than Nidorino and Raboot, whose professional demeanors had long since fleeted as they stared at their former friend.

"Z-Zangoose! Come on, it's us! S-snap out of it, 'mon!" Raboot tried to reason. As Zangoose only seemed to get more upset, Rye stumbled back in fear as Mavy tried to step up.

"We gotta tranquilize it! Gimme a Sleep Seed!" he demanded. Team Luster only ignored him as their pleading continued.

"Zangoose, please! R-remember, w-we-" Nidorino began.

"Zyaah!" Zangoose screeched, charging towards the group. Before anyone could do anything, he sliced at Nidorino's face and kicked him on his side. Raboot staggered back in shock, though that only opened up the opportunity for Zangoose to dash behind him and strike him hard with a Pursuit. As Raboot fell to the ground and tried to stagger away from the growling feral, the bleeding Nidorino looked up again, tears in his eyes.

"Sh-Shiloh, please..." he pleaded. Before Zangoose could go for the kill, though, several sharp spines suddenly whizzed through the air and lodged themselves into his body, causing him to screech in pain.

His Pin Missile a success in turning Zangoose's attention, Mavy gestured to Rye, who shakily held a seed from Team Luster's bag. As Zangoose gave a furious, animalistic cry, Rye threw the seed as hard as he could, managing to land it in his open mouth.

The two young Pokémon scrambled away as Zangoose immediately made to skewer them in response, managing to nick Mavy's ear before his swings started to become more sluggish. As he fell to the ground, his eyes drooping, Zangoose gave one last snarl before going still. With the Sleep Seed having done its work, Rye bent over to check on his partner.

"M-Mavy, your ear..." he said, seeing blood oozing from the wound.

"Screw mah ear, we gotta tie him up so he don't eat us when he wakes up. You gotta rope in that bag?" Mavy responded.

Rye gritted his teeth, though nodded as he snaked a length of rope out of his bag. As he tried to ignore Mavy's demands of "come on, wrap 'er round, now crisscross, applesauce" and tied Zangoose's limbs behind his back, Team Luster could only regain their bearings and stare forlorn at the sight. As Rye tugged at the rope to make sure it was secure, he turned to face them, giving a grim look as he cleared his throat.

"W-we're good now, I think. What do we do n-"

Raboot's fist suddenly slammed into Rye's cheek, cutting him off and sending him staggering back. Too shocked to at the sudden act to truly comprehend what had just happened, he shakedly held a hand up to the welt as Nidorino held back the furious Raboot.

"We could have saved him! W-we could've gotten outta here and this wouldn't have happened! But no, you just had to take your sweet-ass time in getting here, and... and..." Raboot yelled as angry tears stained his fur. With an anguished cry, he fired an Ember, narrowly missing Rye before collapsing into Nidorino's forepaws. "Sh-Shiloh... fuck..." he choked out.

As Raboot's rage devolved into quiet weeping, Nidorino looked up at Rye and Mavy as they looked on, their backs against the dungeon's wall. After a long, unreadable look, he hung his head grimly, silently took a team badge out of his bag, and tapped it against Zangoose's head, warping him and Raboot away.

As adrenaline left Rye's veins and gave way to dull throbbing in his cheek, he and Mavy just stared blankly at where their clients had been for a while, the shock of what they'd just experienced weighing down on them.

"...R-Rye, I... I didn't think that..." Mavy tried, though ultimately just kept quiet.

It was not until the distant bark of an approaching feral echoed down the hall that Rye shakily took their badges out, rubbing his swelling cheek. With a final look at the signs of their brief battle, he handed Mavy a badge and grabbed a hold of Zangoose's slumbering body. A couple of quick taps later, the three were gone, leaving only the quiet whistling of the wind past the mountainside and a curious feral sniffing at the disturbance left behind.

* * *

Shiloh's eyes shot open as the loud clang of an iron door jolted him awake. At once, he could tell something was off; everything smelled and looked wrong. His fur standing on end, he clambered to his feet, snarling threateningly as he looked up at his apparent captors. He could sense it, they were not from the dungeon. They were encroaching upon it, but the real concern here was what they were going to do. Hurt him, steal his hard-earned food, take the watering hole, maybe? This couldn't stand, he had to stop them!

Was he even in his territory anymore, though? Most everything around him seemed wrong... but those intruders... something nagged at Shiloh's chaotic, animalistic thoughts as he glared them down. There was just a twinge of familiarity to the outsiders... never mind that, though, there was a clear threat to his survival present. He couldn't afford to let his guard down now.

Shiloh prowled over to his prison's corner on all fours, continuing to growl at his captors as he took a sitting position, drool dripping from his snarling maw. Watching his former friend, Raboot averted his gaze before quietly walking off.

"Ch-Church, wait..." Nidorino stammered, turning to try and reason with Raboot, though was only met with indifference as he walked off. Nidorino hung his head, and with nothing else to do, looked over at Rye and Mavy as they stared into the cage.

"It... it wasn't you two's fault. The dungeon would've shifted anyways. Y-you..." he tried to reassure them, though hung his head before he could continue.

"...so what now?" Mavy asked.

"We take him back, have him signed off as lost in action, then... th-the Guild decides what comes next," Nidorino explained, clenching his teeth as he stood there for another minute. Before long, he sighed, took a sack of coins from his bag to dump into Rye's hands, and turned to leave. As he did so, Rye reached out to stop him, though stopped himself short of touching his poisonous spines.

"...er, Mr. Nidorino? D-didn't you see how he was looking at you? M-maybe we can still-" he started.

"You can't reverse this. No one's ever really gone back from dungeon madness," Nidorino said coldly.

"I-I know, but what about Beck?" Rye asked. Nidorino gave a quick confused look.

"Who?" he asked. Rye bit his tongue.

"Er, Oshawott. I-I don't know, he's a feral, m-maybe he can talk some sense into him?" he suggested. Nidorino considered this for a moment, looking up at Shiloh.

"I don't know, kid. Try if you want, I doubt it'll do much," he sighed. "Anyways... I'm sorry about what Churchill did back there. He isn't usually like that, I..."

Rye ran a finger along his swollen cheek. The berry and ice pack he'd been given had helped, but he suspected it'd be a while before it went back down. Despite this, he hung his head.

"I-it's okay, I understand, I guess. Uh, L-losing someone here, y'know?" he said. Nidorino stared at the Treecko for a moment, some sort of understanding in his face before he simply turned around.

"We'll be sticking around to sort everything out. You can go whenever you want," he said.

As he trudged out the door, Mavy glanced up at Rye.

"Why's Beck gotta talk to him? Just do whatcha did to him," he said. Rye shifted in place, scratching at a itch on his wrist.

"It's not that simple," he said, to which Mavy sighed and gave a light eye roll.

"Yep, figured," he said before stopping and biting his lip. "Sorry, it's just that the ear's flarin' up. Don't mind me."

Rye gave an absentminded nod as he rubbed at his itching arm and watched Shiloh for a bit longer, though he and Mavy soon silently headed for the door, leaving the Zangoose be.

The two walked out of the modest police station and headed for the inn across the square as the cloudy sky above sprinkled snow down onto the teammates. Watching amusedly as snowflakes began to catch in Mavy's jagged fur, Rye hurried into the inn, looking back to make sure no one had recognized him.

"O-okay, uh... I guess we just wait for the weather to clear up, then we head home," he said. Shaking snow out of his fur, Mavy sighed.

"Yeah..." he said, melancholy weighing his voice down. Rye shot him a sympathetic look as they headed down the hall.

"H-hey, didn't you hear Mr. Nidorino? It's not our fault," he tried to reassure him.

"Iunno, just... ugh..." Mavy groaned. "It sucks, though. Like, just throw the dungeons out and I'd wanna settle down here. It's like that back home, sure, but at least y'all kept the place afloat," he said as he zigzagged into their room and hopped onto the bed. Rye looked through the window at the clouds now obscuring Mt. Twist's peak, giving a grim nod as he took a seat and kept itching at his arm.

"Yeah. Th-that'd be nice," he said.

* * *

The last couple hours had been nothing but a confusing blur of panic. Immediately after Sinni and I had been fished out of that tunnel, we'd been rushed back to the station, the perfect place to watch the chaos of the ruin's destruction unfold. As the town's only doctor had looked us over, we were bombarded with questions as to just what we'd done in there while the village outside descended into panic.

Now that it seemed that the worst was behind us, I just took a moment to breathe easy as Sinni hobbled out of the station on sturdy iron crutches, shooting a glare behind us as the Miltank crossed her arms and watched us go. While I'd apparently just gotten banged up in my fall, Sinni had required a bone resetting, a hefty cast around her hulking leg, and a recommendation of rest.

It seemed she wasn't about to take all that sitting down, though.

"Fuckin' Betty, I swear. 'Ooh, why're you asking about Oshawott? Does it weally matter?' And right in front of you, like, come on," she said as she clumsily weaved past the village's confused residents.

"Ergh, yeah. 'Shaawaaa, sheeh,'" I tried to say in the Miltank's voice. Sinni gave a loud snort.

"Eeyep, that's Betty, alright," she said as her house came into view. Atop it, Cap'n Brine stood there staring at the distant plume of dust as it slowly dissipated, though he broke his gaze as he saw us approach. Once he caught sight of Sinni's crutches and cast, I swear I could feel an aura of just pure "what-the-fuck" wash over me as the Feraligatr leaned on her crutches and innocently waved.

"Wot even...?" he asked.

"Phoenix shit," Sinni clarified, hobbling into her house and probably leaving Brine even more confused. She stood there for a minute just looking over the room before she made her way to her bed, carefully set herself down, and let out a massive sigh as I sat down next to her.

"Welp. This is gonna be a treat to explain," she groaned. "We're dealing with wandereyes who got high out of their minds on X-eye seeds and believe in fucking... Palkia, they all got away, _and_ I ate shit trying to catch 'em."

As Sinni ran her hand down her maw, I bit my lip.

"Er..." I awkwardly began.

"I ate so much shit, Beck," she said. A moment of silence hung in the air until Sinni tried to sit up.

"So... er, anyways, thanks for coming with. You know, you were kinda the one who found them in there, and something tells me I'd have a lot more than a busted leg if you weren't with me," she said. Looking over at her, I offered a little smile.

"N-nah praahb," I tried. With a little snort, Sinni continued.

"I'm guessing you're done here. No Phoenixes, no reason to stay, huh?" she asked, looking down at me with a soft gaze. Fidgeting with my tail as I sat, I hung my head a bit.

"Yeah," I said. Sinni cleared her throat.

"Well, Betty probably won't let me forget it if she sees me out for the rest of today. Could you do me a favor and stick around for a bit longer, make it a bit more bearable?" she asked. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this request seeing as Rye and Mavy were probably back by now. I didn't want to keep them waiting, but... eh.

"Yeah, s-sure," I said. Call it selfish, but I felt like I could use some inconsequential chill time to help everything I'd seen today sink in. In response, Sinni cracked her crocodile grin as she shifted in place, giving a light groan as her leg smarted.

"Grab a couple calciums from the crate over in the living room if you don't mind," she requested. Watching as I nodded and headed in, she cocked her head. "Hm, while we were talking last night, I didn't bring up... alright, allow me to enlighten you of the tale of Rye and the very unfortunately placed Trubbish."

"The wha?" I called back as I made my way across the one-room house. Sinni chuckled to herself, her face becoming ever so slightly somber at the memories.

"Well, see, it was just after the harvest, and the Sceptiles had invited us over for a nice celebration dinner. What they didn't know, though, was that a little Trubbish got into their stockpile..." she began.

We didn't stay there long, but it was a welcome change. Tales were told, laughs were shared, and a couple bottles of bitter calcium were gleefully forced down. With the energy boost the supplements had provided coursing through me, I'd eagerly tried to show Sinni the progress I'd made in the weeks since she'd given me those combat pointers.

"Alright, not bad form, good stance, decent grip. Looks like that'd leave a real good mark if you still had your... er, shell," she observed.

Putting the rock I'd used as a substitute down, I took a moment to reflect on my lost weapon. While I was already starting to feel something growing in... where was my scalchop growing from, anyways? That disconcerting thought aside, I still just felt wrong somehow without the thing. Watching as I started noticeably pouting, Sinni cleared her throat.

"Sorry if that's still a sensitive topic," she said. "Uh, you wanna move on?"

"Y-yeah," I quickly said.

"Right then. You got any other moves?" Sinni asked. With a nod, I packed some energy into my tail, then tried to jump up to swing it in a circle. Unfortunately, it seemed I'd grossly underestimated the Aqua Slap's range, as evidenced by the thud of a table and the loud crash of what sounded like pottery from behind me.

"...shaht. S-seeni?" I squeaked, trying to keep my cool as I shrank back. I don't know if I can quite describe the sheer terror of being glared daggers into by a seven-foot combat-trained monster while stumbling over the pieces of her ruined pot. As her maw clenched, said monster's face softened as she let out a deep sigh.

"You break shit like an amateur. Watch and learn," she said. Before I could quite process what she meant, she grabbed a small pot from beside her bed and tossed it into the air as best she could, then swung her massive tail to smash it to what I could only assume was dust. As I cowered in place, she looked over the fragments scattered about the floor.

"Bitch," she declared, giving a satisfied smirk. As I managed out a laugh of relief, Cap'n Brine looked in from through the window.

"Ye alroight in thar?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're all fine," Sinni piped.

"...aye. Well, try an' finish up, dayloight be wastin'," Brine said, fluttering back up to the roof. Watching the window, Sinni nodded.

"Right. I guess you've gotta head out now," she observed.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Mmm. Well... just tell Rye to write back to me, alright? You know, since he didn't come, might as well make up," Sinni requested before shifting in her bed. "Really, though, I've... said a lot of things to him I regret, and..."

Sinni paused for a minute, clenching her jaws as she seemed to go over the memories.

"Wha yeh seh?" I asked.

"...I'd really rather not talk about it," Sinni said. "Think 'go explain to his grave, I'm sure he'll understand' or 'I'll bite your face off if you ever come back to this house...'"

She paused.

"...point is, I've got a lot I wanna tell him. Just... don't forget, yeah?" she requested, straightening up.

"Yeh, ma'am," I said.

"Thanks. Uhm... guess I'll see you when I see you. Knock 'em dead, kid," Sinni said, flashing one last crocodile grin my way. With a wave goodbye, I headed outside, taking a look back before calling out for Cap'n Brine.

As I climbed back into the Pelipper's foul bill and held on as he took off, I stole a final look back towards Bassa Village, namely the new gaping hole in the sand about half a mile out.

_'I get the feeling that thing means we're gonna be back soon. Till then, there's a lot to unwrap here. The whatever Orb? That whole monologue from Xatu? Whatever that tunnel was? Where does it lead? If Bassa Village really is Nimbasa Town, then... anyways. I got some explanation as to why I'm here, but now there's just more that needs explaining...'_

As I thought about it more and more, I ended up slumping against the wall of Brine's bill, my head throbbing.

"Urgh, shaht," I groaned.

"Oi, watcha tahngue ahn thar!" Brine demanded.

"Sorry," I quickly apologized, settling in for yet another long flight.

* * *

"Aight, you got e'rything?" Mavy asked.

"Yeah, uh, everything's packed, I think," Rye said. With the midday sun peeking through the clouds in the window, the Treecko slung his bag over his shoulder and gestured Mavy on. With Team Luster having to stay overnight to get things sorted out, Rye and Mavy had agreed to just head back home, as Beck was likely already waiting.

The two's moods had been quite down from their failure to save Zangoose in time, though Rye had managed to keep his hopes up with the thought Beck could be able to help. All he wished was that they'd been a little faster in their efforts...

Managing to put his regrets over Zangoose aside for a minute, Rye decided that this mission had been a success in some regards. He'd managed to face his past head-on, he'd started getting on Mavy's good side, and no one had seen... him...

"W-wait!" he suddenly yelped, turning to run back to their inn room. He'd forgotten that mask! He couldn't risk anyone seeing his face!

As he scrambled into the room and bent down to retrieve the painted bone mask, he suddenly hesitated. Rye stared the mask in its eyeholes for a minute before his tail twitched. Without a word, he turned to leave, leaving the mask on the floor. Hanging his head, he trudged ahead of Mavy towards the inn's lobby.

"What was that about?" Mavy asked. Rye gulped, choosing not to answer as he stepped outside, pausing to take in the sights.

"Y-you remember the way to the Flyer pad, right?" he asked.

"Um, yeah, it was just up that way," Mavy said, leading the Treecko along. As they walked, Rye hung his head, gritting his teeth as passing Pokémon double taked and stared at him with wide eyes.

"I-is that...?"

"The fu...?"

"Th-that's the Sceptiles' kid..."

Keeping his gaze glued to the road, Rye trudged after the zigzagging Mavy, who looked around curiously at the shocked townsfolk.

"Ah'm guessin' those're...?" he asked. Rye gave a grim nod, trying not to look at anyone. He knew full well what the Pokémon of Twistfoot Town thought of him, and he didn't want to risk a confrontation, especially if it ended up leading him back to his parents. Perhaps he could come back and make amends at some future date, but for now, just letting everyone know he had stopped by was good enough for him.

Ignoring the shocked stares of the townsfolk, Rye and Mavy climbed back up onto the rooftop landing pad as Altaria flew out of the building below, allowing the two to clamber onto her pillowy back.

Rye clung on as she began to take off, though stole a final look back at Mt. Twist as it loomed over the town, not breaking that gaze until it and the town disappeared behind cloud cover.

With a sigh, he scratched at a bothersome itch on his back. He wasn't sure why he was itching so much today, maybe-

"Ah! Wh-what in distortion? Stop!" Mavy cried, pointing at where Rye was scratching. Retracting his hand, he found what was the matter: a white scaly film sticking to his fingers. Frantically looking around as bits of it floated down into Altaria's feathers, he groaned.

"No! Wh-why'd I have to start shedding now?" he protested.

"Sheddin'?" But ya don't have fur, do you?" Mavy asked.

"N-no, no, I outgrew my skin. Now it's coming off," Rye explained, peeling a little strip of dead skin off his back as an example. Letting it flutter away in the wind, Rye slumped down in defeat.

"N-now it's gonna stick in her feathers and I've gotta take a day off to let it finish... ugh," he groaned.

"Mm. Talk 'bout poor timin', huh?" Mavy observed, flicking one of the pieces of skin out of Altaria's feathers. Rye snorted.

"Yeah, a-at least it's better than that time I ate... uh..."

Rye tensed up, quietly swearing to himself as Mavy looked up.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"Nothing," Rye said hurriedly.

"That time you ate what, Rye?" Mavy insisted.

"N-nothing!" Rye said, his face hot as Mavy chuckled.

"Come on, now, we got till dusk, might as well just spill the gummis now," he reasoned as Rye buried his face into Altaria's feathers, cursing himself for letting that of all things slip. Altaria rolled her eyes at the two, shifting her gaze ahead as she set her course back towards Gray Proper.

* * *

"Tell yer bunch oi said ahoy, alroight?" Cap'n Brine requested.

"Yessir," I said, giving as good a salute I could with my little arm. The Pelipper gave a hearty grin as we stood just outside Impetus Town. With our mercifully uneventful flight bringing us home just before dusk, Brine been nice enough to just drop me off and spare me the nighttime walk. As the town started to light up behind me, we stood there quietly for a second before Brine hopped in place.

"Ya need any more flyin', joss come'n tolk tah me. Make sure ye make better arrangments fah me than the roof, hm?" he asked.

"Yeah," I promised. With that, Brine gave a quick grin and salute and flew off into the darkening sky, leaving me to head into town.

The streets were mostly empty save for the businesses still open for the Guild, so my walk back went without incident. Waving at Cinccino as I passed her booth, I took a brief look around. With dinner fast approaching, the Guild was bustling with activity as Pokémon went about their evenings, passing by without giving me much thought. While I was glad to be left alone, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Anyone who might have known about my absence probably assumed I was in Twistfoot Town with the others, so no one knew what I'd done yesterday.

_'I mean, not yet, at least. I'm gonna guess Sinni and friends won't keep all that secret for very long.'_

With that in mind, I stopped at our team's base and gave the doorframe a gentle knock. When no one answered, I took a peek inside. By the looks of it, Rye and Mavy hadn't come back yet, as evidenced by the unlit lantern and the general cleanliness of the place (we'd have to talk with Mavy about that, it seemed). A bit bummed but still counting my quick return as a win of some sort, I plopped down on my bed and resigned myself to staring at the ceiling and twiddling my webbed toes as I waited for my teammates to return.

It was probably half an hour until I suddenly picked up familiar voices approaching the base. My ears pricking up, I sat up just in time to see Rye and Mavy chatting as they walked in.

_'...wait, Rye and Mavy are talking? They're not ready to kill each other? And why does Rye look so pale?'_

I barely had time to consider any of this before Rye spotted me, his face cracking into a grin.

"Beck! Hey!" he piped as he and Mavy ran over to meet me.

"Hey! Er... Rye?" I said, pointing to his unusual-looking skin. Rye exchanged a quick look with Mavy, then put on a mock grim face.

"Yeah, uh, I-I caught something while we were in town. Mavy says it's just, uh, l-leprosy," he said as he scratched at his forearm, then suddenly peeled a strip of scaly film off.

"Ah!" I yelped, scrambling back in shock. Rye let the strip of skin flutter to the ground and slumped guiltily as Mavy burst out laughing behind him.

"I'm sorry, i-it's not leprosy, just my skin shedding. Mavy wanted me to do that," he apologized.

"Worth it!" Mavy wheezed. As we waited for him to calm down, Rye cleared his throat.

"So, uh... I was thinking we could go into town for dinner tonight? W-we have money and, er, I wanna wait till I finish shedding. Maybe we can, y'know, catch up while we're doing that, is that alright?" he asked. I cocked my head curiously. Did restaurants still exist?

"Er, sure. Wehr?" I asked.

"Okay, er, I think there's a place run by a Tropius near town square, we can try that," Rye answered, dropping his bag to the side and leading us out of the base. As we headed into the now brightly-lit Impetus Town, Rye straightened up, splitting a strip of dead skin in the process.

"So, we've got a lot to talk about," he said. "Y-you wanna start?"

"Meh?" I asked.

"If anything, we'll just end up readin' it later. Might could figure out what's happenin' now if ya tell, y'know?" Mavy reasoned. With the two now watching expectantly, I bit my lip, quietly asking to anyone listening to forgive me for the butchering of language that was to come.

"Er, I go tah Brehh. Cap Brehh. I, eh, f-feh... f-fly tah Ba-sha..."

* * *

As I felt the moon beginning to tug ever so slightly at my core, the three of us sat around a table with no one but the Tropius running the open-air restaurant to bother us as we pigged out. Even if it was quite odd eating something other than Raticate's cooking, I was enjoying myself a good bit. It felt nice to just kick back with the squad and splurge for once, especially now that we could pick our meals. After a month of just predetermined mess hall meals, I'd forgotten how nice that was. As I listened to Rye tell of what he'd been up to, though, our attention was drawn to Mavy as he loudly smacked on his Pidove meat.

"...what?" he asked as he noticed our staring. Rye scratched at his shedding skin as he cleared his throat.

"C-could you please quit... uh, smacking like that?" he asked. Mavy snorted.

"Pfft. You city slickers and yer manners," he chuckled as he went back to eating, though thankfully refrained from his unappealing slurping. With quiet finally achieved, Rye turned back to me and continued with his tale. I hadn't had much luck in telling what had happened on my end, but despite the confusion, Rye and Mavy had been satisfied enough to regale me with their own retellings.

"So, anyways, once we came to terms, we just started... er, screaming at each other," he recounted, scraping his finger along the bottom of his bowl of stew. My mouth full of Magikarp, I cocked my head.

"Wha?" I asked, accidentally spewing bits of fish onto the table as Mavy looked up from his plate and put his forepaws on the table.

"Yep, we basically just roasted the livin' daylights outta each other and tried to start fresh from there. May have gone a bit far, but looks like it's worked out so far," he explained.

"Y-yeah, then... uh... then we found Zangoose," Rye said quietly. I looked up from my dish, my eyes undoubtedly lighting up.

"Rehly?" I asked, though shrunk back as I noticed Rye's grim expression.

"Th-the dungeon took him. He got driven feral," he said. A long silence hung over the table as the information sank in.

"Wha?" I quietly asked after a minute, my eyes wide. Rye let out a sigh.

"They get back tomorrow with him. I-I was hoping you might be able to talk some sense into him. Like, we won't be going anywhere while I'm shedding, and, uh, maybe you can understand him, who knows?" he suggested.

I considered this for a bit. I hadn't really stopped to consider if I could understand ferals, especially when every feral I'd encountered thus far had only really given me one thing to work with: _get the fuck off my property or I'll skewer you between the eyes._ With that limited range, I hadn't been able to tell. Maybe in a controlled environment, I could...?

"...I t-try," I promised. Rye gave a thankful nod as he sat back and kept scratching at his arms. We sat there in grim silence for a minute until the Tropius serving us came tromping back, carrying a small dish in his mouth that he placed in front of Rye.

"Uh... what's this?" the confused Treecko asked.

"Complementary poffins for your hatchday!" the Tropius piped. "It's an old recipe from Sun Minor, hard to come by 'round these parts! Enjoy!"

As the Tropius lumbered off, Rye tried to choke out a protest, then gave Mavy a flat look.

"What? It's free food!" the Zigzagoon reasoned.

"But... Mavy, it's not even my hatchday!" Rye said. Mavy smiled deviously.

"He don't know that," he grinned, "I mean, if you ain't gonna eat 'em, ah'll gladly-"

"W-wait!" Rye said, holding the dish away from Mavy's grabbing paws. "It's just... y-you heard him, it's rare."

"Well, it ain't every day you get dessert, right? Ya only got so long, you gotta live sometimes. Lemme have a couple," Mavy said. Rye seemed to relent, placing the platter down for the Zigzagoon to grab at.

"Y-yeah, huh. I never really noticed dessert's kinda... er, not common, I guess. Haven't had it since... I don't know, really," he mused. As I reached for one of the curious pastries, something from my talk with Sinni that morning came to mind. Looking up at Rye, I smirked to myself.

"Seence Trah-beh?" I asked.

"Huh?" Rye asked, popping a poffin into his mouth. I waited quietly for a minute as he savored the treat, then suddenly and violently blew it out as he gave me a look of abject horror, his eyes bulging out of his head.

"Y-you... she... h-how much did she tell you?!" he cried out.

"E-enaff," I replied, trying my damnedest to keep a straight face. As Rye seemed to implode in on himself, Mavy put his forepaws back up on the table, looking at me interestedly.

"Ohohooo! Tell ya _what_ exactly, Beck?" he asked. Rye started to form a plea for me to stop, but suddenly stopped before straightening up.

"Uh, w-well, i-if we're gonna share, uh, st-stories, then I could tell about the thing you ate in Amber- I mean, Arid Riverbed!" he managed. I gave him a confused look before the memory suddenly popped up: me stupidly eating that apple out of desperation and poisoning myself. While that went down in my mind's eye, it was my turn to recoil in panic.

"Wh-wha?! Rye, nah!" I pleaded as Mavy looked over in my direction, seemingly quite interested in that unfortunate incident as Rye watched me die inside.

"C-come on... uh, B-Blubby! I think Mavy'd really like to hear about that!" he added on.

I tried to form a response to this, but alas, I could find none. After a bit of silence, I chose to just stick my tongue out at Rye, who grinned and sat back in his seat as we looked each other in the eyes, making a silent agreement to keep quiet about any food-related incidents. With that decided, we started picking off the poffin platter, Mavy snorting as we did so.

"Cowards, both o' y'all," he declared as he joined us.


	39. A Strange Game

You ever hear that old saying, ignorance is bliss? Well, to be honest, I never quite got it before as far as I can remember. Well, now as I looked around at the townsfolk as we strolled through Impetus Town, I was getting a pretty good idea of what exactly it meant.

It seemed that the news of our escapades hadn't yet escaped, as the Pokémon around us didn't seem to give us a second thought as we weaved past them on our way to the police station. With the shock of that attack on the temple having apparently passed, they looked lively as ever as they went about their days, should it be talking, playing, shopping, what have you. They had no idea of what we'd started to uncover here... honestly, I envied them. I really did.

Anyways, the police station.

Team Luster had come back early in the morning, Zangoose tied up and in tow as they dragged his snarling, snapping self to the station. Apparently it was standard procedure to hole up any ferals like this in a jail cell until the Guild decided what to do with them, so with a quick summons, we were on our way. As we stopped in front of the humble little police station, we all gave each other a glance.

"So what's the plan here?" Mavy asked Rye. The Treecko was looking worse for wear as several large patches of pale dead skin clung to his body, earning many a bewildered look from the few Pokémon on the street as he scratched at the patch on his chest.

"I don't know. Uh, I-I guess Beck just goes in and sees if he can figure... y'know, something out?" he suggested. Mavy and I both turned to give him a flat look.

"Sham-tin?" I asked dubiously.

"Ya really didn't think this through, didja?" Mavy asked. Rye's eye twitched.

"No, I-I mean like... l-let's just go," he said, leading us into the station. As we walked in, the Magnemite at the front desk took a quick look up, then gave an electronic groan.

"Disdain: You again. Interrogative: What do you need?" it buzzed. It seemed it hadn't forgotten about the time we'd come in with my dream as evidence. Nevertheless, we straightened up and looked it in its single eye.

"We're here for Team... uh, Luster, right? Yeah, Team Luster, their feral 'mon," Mavy said. Magnemite gave us a Look.

"Statement: That is not permitted. Only the affected's teammates may accompany him," it droned.

"Th-they asked for us," Rye hurriedly added.

"Bzzt! Sarcasm: I'm sure they did. I'm sure they'll back that up," the Magnemite said flatly before turning to float through the door behind it. After we waited for a minute, the unpleasant receptionist floated back in and silently gestured us on, giving us a disgruntled sideways look as we ventured into the station's guts.

Waiting in the hallway for us was Team Luster and Officer Magnezone, who all watched as we quietly filed in. Raboot gave a quick sharp look before looking down at the floor, though Nidorino quickly stood up to address us, hanging his head as he started.

"Treecko said you could help. I'm not sure if whatever you're gonna do will work, but... dammit, I don't know. I don't care if you can't bring him back entirely. Just... try and do something," he said. While it was jarring seeing a Pokémon nearly twice my size pleading like this, I managed to ignore this and nodded.

"Y-yessir," I said before turning to Officer Magnezone for instructions.

"Statement: Zangoose is thankfully a feral of the mad variant, meaning he cannot articulate easily in combat. A born feral such as you would likely best anyone in this situation, but remember that the risk is still here. Instruction: Keep in mind I will be watching. I do not know what exactly you will be attempting, but I do not doubt it is dangerous. You are to tell me should the situation spiral out of your control. Interrogative: Are you ready to begin?" he asked.

Looking back at Rye and Mavy for any sort of help, I soon gave the officer a quick nod. With that, Magnezone opened the door behind him and led me inside.

As I took in the jail cell before me, Zangoose looked up at us and immediately began growling threateningly. With his matted fur, bared teeth, and wild, soulless eyes, he was far from the friendly Pokémon I'd known him as. I'd been dreading seeing him like this already, but as Magnezone floated towards the cell to let me in, the realization that I had a lot more shit on my plate to worry about set in. Swallowing hard, I started inching towards the cell, watching Zangoose's wicked claws in particular as he stared me down.

"Zahh!" he barked in warning. I paused, waiting for him to calm down as to not get shish kebabed. As I waited, I began to seriously reconsider this whole idea.

_'He's probably too far gone for you to make any difference. Just turn back now and save yourself the mutilation._

_...but everyone's expecting you to at least try and do this. Rye, Mavy, Nidorino... agh! This isn't gonna end well.'_

Quietly praying Ms. Audino would take pity and not charge us for the care I'd undoubtedly be needing, I kept up my approach as Officer Magnezone opened up the cell door a crack to let me in. As I heard the door clink shut behind me, I stopped and bit my lip, watching Zangoose as he stood up and took a defensive stance.

"Zeaaah!" he snarled. After quickly checking to make sure Magnezone was still there, I tried to mull over the threat in my head.

_'Think, Beck. Surely you can get something out of that. Really, that can't be it, all he conveyed was asserting dominance over... his territory... uh, what? Did I really just...?_

_Um. O-okay, then. We might be onto something. If basic pokkology still checks out nowadays, all I've gotta do is take that dominance away.'_

"Zaaagh!" Zangoose screeched, quite unhappy I wasn't backing off as he unsheathed his claws.

"Shaah!" I responded, loudly slapping my tail against the iron bars behind me. Though startled by the noise, Zangoose quickly charged me, though I was able to scramble aside before he could slice me open. The cell's bars rang again as he ran headfirst into them, though this didn't seem to be enough to perturb him as he regained his bearings and swung at me. As claws raked against my chest, I yelped and fired off a Water Gun in the feral's face, the high-pressure technique sending him sputtering to the floor. Before he could get up to strike me again, I gave a hard Aqua Slap to his head, debilitating him just long enough for me to jump onto his head.

"SHAAAH!" I screeched into Zangoose's ear, spittle flying from my mouth as I stamped my webbed feet. Zangoose tried to struggle for a bit, but quickly slumped down in defeat, finally submitting his title of the cell's superior Pokémon.

"Zah..." he groaned as I watched, my ears sticking up.

_'Okay, I think that means he's given up. He's acknowledged you as... uh, the alpha, I guess. Now strike him down and assert... whoa, okay, getting a bit into it there._

_Really, though, what do I do now? Just talk to him? I mean, I'm not entirely sure what I'm saying myself, but it's my best option here.'_

"Er, Shan-gahs. Shaah," I tried. Zangoose only glared up at me, so I bit my lip and tried again. I'm not a hundred percent certain what I told him over the next minute or two, but it seemed I was making progress as the feral's tense figure started to relax. Just as I was about to finish up my spiel of animalistic noise, Zangoose suddenly stood up, throwing me off his head and onto the stone floor.

I winced and braced for a nasty slashing, but was surprised when none came. Tentatively looking up at Zangoose, I found him standing over me passively, staring down at me as he pointed to the door.

"Zah?" he asked quietly. I blinked, the shock of what I'd just managed to do beginning to set in.

"Y-yeah," I said, though quickly coughed to myself. "Er, shaa," I corrected. At my confirmation, Zangoose ambled over to the bars as I hurriedly scurried out of the cell, Magnezone looking on in what I could assume was awe as he held open the door for me.

"...summons: Nidorino, please enter," he soon called. The room's door cracked open as Nidorino hesitantly entered, the others gathered behind him to watch as he stopped in front of Zangoose's cell.

"Sh-Shiloh?" he asked quietly. Zangoose didn't seem to recognize the name, but he still looked down at his former teammate with some sort of respect, maybe even recognition before retracting his claws and bowing his head in submission. Nidorino just stared at him for a moment before turning his gaze towards me.

"Am sorry," I said. I hadn't been able to bring him back after all...

"Don't be. You got somewhere with him, at least. Even if we can't bring him back entirely... all in all, he's still Shiloh. That's good enough," Nidorino reasoned before looking back at the door, where Raboot stared at a loss at this turn of events. "How'd you get Oshawott like this, Treecko? Just... er, give us a tip or two," Nidorino said.

Rye blinked hard at the sudden request, his tail twitching as he tried to think.

"Uh... I-I tried to teach him to say his name first, then tried to branch out. I-it's hard to explain," he said. Nidorino nodded.

"Right, start with names... I think that's everything, then. You can just go, we need a while," he said. "Thanks for... well, everything, you guys."

I gave a quick nod. The three of us stood there for a moment before silently turning to make our exit, leaving Raboot to stare into the room dumbfounded as Nidorino started talking to Zangoose.

We didn't dare say a word till we were well on our way back to the Guild, at which point Rye gave me a worried look.

"So, uh... wh-when you were beating Zangoose up... uh..." he said timidly.

"Yeah. Remind me never to piss ya off," Mavy added. I sighed, giving a little shrug to acknowledge that yeah, I'd probably gotten a bit too into it there as we headed back through the Guild's gates.

I mean, if it worked, then...

* * *

Setting down my charcoal pen, I looked over the paper I'd scrawled on, giving a satisfied nod at what I'd produced. With Rye's shedding preventing us from doing any work today, we'd decided to just sit down and have a writing lesson. With a disinterested Mavy having quickly excused himself to go on a walk around town, I didn't have much else to do than write down the same phrase over and over.

_The team of Pokémon from the Guild walked into the dungeon._

_The team of Pokémon from the Guild walked into the dungeon._

_The team of Pokémon from the Guild walked into the dungeon._

Rinse, repeat, and resist the urge to hit my head against the wall. Riveting. I mean, I could somewhat read the phrase now, but still.

Once I handed the paper over, Rye skimmed over it, looking distant as he did so.

"Alright, that's good. Y-you're getting the hang of it," he said absentmindedly, scratching at his peeling skin. He kept at it for a bit before he seemed to notice my concerned look.

"Yeh okeh?" I asked. Not looking up from his contemplation, Rye grimaced a bit.

"I-I... I don't know, it's just that, uh..." he began. Met with just silence after that, I put aside my pen. I'd promised to help him, I wasn't just gonna sit around and write down more first-grade crap without at least trying.

"Wha happehd?" I asked. Seemingly realizing he wasn't getting out of this one, Rye bit his lip.

"Well, uh... it's everything that happened with Zangoose. And, er, wh-while I was in Twistfoot, I could've gone and talked to someone I knew. But... I-I didn't. Like, do you think I should've done that? I didn't even see Mom or Dad, and... I-I ran away, they probably... I don't know. Should I worry about this?" he asked. I thought over his words for a bit. I was by no means a therapist, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

"Eh... is prah-gres," I said.

"What?" Rye asked.

"Nah wahry. T-tak shloah," I added. Rye only seemed to wilt further.

"I-I know, I know. It's just that I should've at least tried to talk to someone, you know?" he asked.

"Rye, is okeh," I reassured him.

"B-but I... uh, do you hear that?" Rye asked. Sticking an ear up, I looked outside, where a loud flapping of wings courtesy of a landing Noctowl sounded.

"Hey, urgent message here," he hurriedly said as he hopped inside, clutching a small slip of parchment. "Immediate summons for Oshawott of Team Reach. The Guildmaster wants to see you."

I froze, staring at Noctowl for a bit before managing to regain my composure and choking a question out.

"Wh-why?" I asked.

"Don't ask me. He just said he wanted to talk with you in private. Not sure how he plans on managing that, but what in distortion do I know?" Noctowl shrugged, dropping the summons at my feet before hopping out the door and flying off. Picking up the little slip and looking over the Torchic-scratch scrawled onto it, I exchanged a worried glance with Rye.

"W-well... I-I guess you should answer that. If Mr. Arcanine wants to see you, then... uh, yeah," the Treecko managed. "I-I'll watch for Mavy, you can just go. I'll... erm, see you later."

Gulping at the tone in his voice, I nodded and waddled out of our quarters, starting the short walk to the top of the hill. Had Arcanine found out about my trip to Bassa Village? Was I about to get kicked out of the Guild or something? I frankly didn't know, but as I approached the little shack housing the Guildmaster's quarters, I figured all I could do was hope for the best. Clutching the summons tight, I stopped in front of the door, where a pair of Bisharps stood guard, apparently having replaced the Magnetons that had been here before.

"None shall pass," one of them said.

"I-" I began.

"None shall pass. Guildmaster Arcanine is not accepting any visitors. Make your leave," the Bisharp repeated. I sighed, holding up my summons. The two guards quickly plucked it out of my paws, looking over it for a minute before nodding.

"Go ahead," they stated, stepping aside to let me head inside.

I felt an odd rush of nostalgia as I climbed down the ladder into Arcanine's quarters with some difficulty. The last time I'd been here was well over a month ago, the day Rye and I formed the team, if I recall correctly. Glancing up at the paintings of the Guild over the years as I headed down the hallway, I gritted my teeth, hoping I'd be shown mercy.

Entering the circular main room, I stopped, finding that Arcanine was nowhere to be seen. Sighing, I started pacing as I waited, taking a long look at the stuff piled up along the walls. Now that I knew of this world's true nature, the artifacts here seemed to shine in a new light. The Pokeballs and machines, the tools and knickknacks, the signs and paintings, the skeleton grinning down at me... I don't know, just looking at the Guildmaster's weird collection now was just kinda morbid, to say the least.

As I examined the artifacts, I stopped over a particularly enticing sight: a long row of rusted knives. I cocked my head as I remembered what Bert had told me during our last session.

_'Maybe if we ask real politely, I can get ya one of those to use till the 'chop grows back. Imagine, an Oshawott running at you with a knife.'_

I couldn't suppress my smile as I ran a paw across a couple of them. After a good bit of scanning, I carefully picked one of them up. Looking at the little joint at the bottom, I curiously opened up the butterfly knife and examined the rusted blade. It was still decently sharp, it could do some damage...

Giving the knife a couple experimental jerks to open and close it, I soon started swinging the weapon arounf. As the blade whistled through the air for the first time in who knows how long, I let myself momentarily forget my woes. Even if this wasn't my old scalchop, it still felt good swinging such a weapon around like old times. A hefty grin on my face, I gave a few hard stabs into the air, though it seemed I wasn't quite used to the weight of the thing, as the last one sent it flying out of my paws and clattering onto the floor. Gritting my teeth, I bent down to gingerly pick it up.

"Please do be careful. That is very old and very delicate."

"Ah!" I yelped, spinning around to find Arcanine watching me, his face somewhere between amusement and disgruntlement. With a shudder, I picked the butterfly knife up and put it back where I'd found it, then guiltily turned to face Arcanine as he approached.

"Sh-sha?" I asked.

"Yes, I am sure you are wondering why I've called you here," Arcanine said, pulling a small wooden box out of a stack of artifacts. Carrying it over in his mouth, he set it down and continued. "You needn't worry. I only wish for pleasant conversation. First, though, I would like to ask you a question."

As the massive golden dog put a paw on the box, I gulped, fearing the undoubtedly important contents it might hold. Extending a claw and sticking it between the box's two halves, Arcanine opened it up, revealing said contents as... a big checkerboard? And wood pieces for... huh?

Confused, I looked up at Arcanine, who offered a warm smile.

"Would you care for a friendly game of chess?" he asked.

Unsure of where exactly the Guildmaster was going with this, I gave a reluctant nod and sat down across from him. Seeing the five-foot mountain of a canine struggle to pull the small pieces out with his unwieldy paws, I leaned over to try and help out. As I tried to remember whether the Rapidash or the weird smiling guy went next to the castle, Arcanine watched me curiously.

"The bishop goes there, young one," he pointed out before lying down on the floor. "I have not played in many years, so do bear with me here. Now, white goes first, if I recall," he said, delicately pushing a pawn forwards with a claw.

"Uh... sir? Wha?" I asked. The Guildmaster looked up, his deep eyes regarding me as I instinctively straightened up.

"I am told you have been through much over the past moon. From experience, I can tell you that playing a game with no life on the line always helps," he explained, nodding towards me. "Your move."

After a bit of hesitation, I gave a light shrug and moved a pawn forward, getting another grin from Arcanine.

"Chess, you see, is a human game, both literally and in nature. There seems to be too much hard contemplation towards a hollow goal for many Pokémon to show interest. I have come close to convincing some, but I suppose the core of the game is simply too far gone to make very much sense to most. I myself have difficulty understanding, I must admit. Kings, queens, bishops; roles I suppose only a human could fully understand."

Nodding at his little lesson, I started trying to ask what the smiley guy did again before suddenly freezing in place, looking up at Arcanine like he'd just caught me with a paw in the cookie jar.

"Curious that you accepted my challenge so easily, I must say," he said knowingly. I swallowed hard.

"Uh..." I said.

"Yes, I am aware of your... condition. Rest assured, your secret is safe with me, young Beck," Arcanine reassured me. "Now, then, did you mean to move there?"

"S-sir-" I began.

"Need not worry. We will get to that, but since we cannot talk without much effort, I would like to get to know you on the checkerboard before we do. You can tell much about a Pokémon just through how they play," Arcanine said. I hesitated for a bit before biting my lip and going along with the game, gesturing to the smiley-guy to begin properly.

So, I'll admit. I kinda suck at chess. Even if I got the feeling Arcanine was going easy on me, he had wiped the floor with most of my little guys within fifteen minutes or so. While the game was honestly kinda fun in a way, that was eclipsed by the mild panic I felt looking over the trap the Guildmaster had put my king in as he accidentally knocked over another piece of his with his massive paw.

"Oh, dear, not again... I apologize again, it seems this was not quite designed with my stature in mind," he chuckled, eyeing my king as he tried to prop his castle guy back up. "Ahem, check. You may prolong this for a few turns if you please. There is no shame in moving your king away," he said, gesturing to my poor king as the white queen just stood there menacingly. Gritting my teeth, I looked around for some sort of escape from this.

_'Crap, he killed my smiley-guys. They'd have been useful here. Uh... oh, wait!'_

Cracking a confident grin, I picked up a lonely, unassuming Rapidash from amidst the chaos in the board's center and knocked Arcanine's queen over. The dog stared at his downed champion for a second before nodding to himself.

"Interesting. Interesting, indeed," he said as I picked the piece up and put it aside. Looking back at him to watch his next move, I found him sitting up instead. "See, this is what fascinates me so about humankind: its ingenuity. You simply cannot get this from peering over old artifacts all day, it is wondrous to experience it firsthand," he mused before nonchalantly looking back down and grabbing his remaining castle guy in his mouth, putting it just across from my king. I frantically reached out to move it out of the way, but quickly found that wouldn't be an option, no thanks to the smiley-guys prowling at the board's other end.

"Alas, it seems that has not quite carried over for you. Checkmate," Arcanine said. We were both silent for a moment before the golden dog hung his head a bit. "I apologize. Comedy was never my strong spot."

Giving the Guildmaster a sideways Look, I sighed and started cleaning up the mess. As I did so, Arcanine sat up, his expression becoming more serious.

"Now, then, with that out of the way, I would like to talk to you about your... ahem, recent incursion," he said. I gritted my teeth, quietly swearing to myself as he continued. "I have read the first reports from the Societies and Bassa Village, and... I want you to tell me what happened. I need a firsthand account to decide what action to take next. Can you do that, young one?"

"Uh... sha," I reminded him. Arcanine simply chuckled to himself, got up, and headed over to what I guessed was his living space in the other room. Nudging back a piece of parchment and a charcoal pen, he watched me expectantly.

"Er... c-cannah wreh," I said.

"Not in Graytongue, I know," Arcanine said. I stared at the paper confused for a minute before suddenly perking up, grabbing the pen, and scrawling out something.

_Can you read this?_

Peering down at the Unovan, Arcanine grinned.

"Why, yes, I can. I have had a while to practice; I can read most western languages fluently, and my Kantonese is choppy but passable. It is a shame my biology does not allow for speaking them, though," he said. "Now, might I ask why you went to Bassa?"

Looking up to meet his curious gaze, I sighed and started scouring my mind for words as I wrote.

_Got attacked. Guy gave info then escaped. Wanted answers._

"I see. Did anything of note happen between your arrival and the raid?" Arcanine asked. I hesitated, remembering the vision I'd seen. I'd talked to the Guildmaster about this before, though, so I felt like I could trust him with that sort of thing.

_Dream. They were looking for orb. Didn't find._

Arcanine's brow furrowed as he read over this.

"Orb... I presume this was the Lustrous Orb that Officer Feraligatr mentioned. Worrisome, I must say," he said.

"Wha?" I asked, though Arcanine continued without explaining.

"Might you describe what you saw in the raid?" he requested. Giving a light groan of frustration, I complied.

_Found guys. Bird was there with a bunch of others. Gave a monologue and collapsed the floor._

"Bird? What- ah, Xatu. I see... I am told you and Feraligatr found a previously unknown structure under the floor. Might you describe it?" Arcanine requested.

"Uh... y-yeah," I said, looking back down at the paper.

_Really long dark concrete tunnel._

Arcanine looked down at the floor, contemplating my vague description.

"Interesting, indeed," he said. "A subway tunnel, perhaps, or some sort of shelter. And undiscovered in such an environment as the Imperium Desert..."

The dog gazed down thoughtfully for a moment before nodding.

"I suppose this calls for an exploration, then," he said.

"Wha?" I asked.

"The idea is that I will send a select few teams to the site to scout out the area and bring back anything of interest," Arcanine explained.

"Why?" I questioned.

"Well, you see, desert environments are ideal places for preserving artifacts. In these troubled times, anything of use could help turn the tides. Imagine, young one. We could find where the Caverns of Being are, or Entralink, perhaps. Why, there is always the chance Reshiram and Zekrom themselves could be resting there! It is too good of an opportunity to pass up," Arcanine explained. I considered the prospect before giving a little nod of understanding, getting a satisfied smile from the Guildmaster, though this quickly faltered.

"That reminds me. I am curious: once this is over and you have completed whatever task you were ordained with, what do you plan on doing next?" he asked. I cocked my head in confusion.

"Er..." I began before remembering the parchment below.

 _Keep the team going, I guess,_ I jotted down. Arcanine hummed to himself.

"You... do not wish to return home? You wish to remain an Oshawott? Do you not have friends and family waiting?" he asked. I hesitated for a moment before replying.

_Is going back even possible?_

"Well, perhaps with favor with a Legend such as Dialga or the Entree forest if the legends are true. That is all I know of on this continent," Arcanine said.

I stared into space for a bit to let this information sink in. I could go back? I could see whoever I'd left behind again? Maybe... but... my human self died. I knew that much for certain. I wasn't sure if I could just walk in and say hi after literally dying. Besides, I couldn't just leave Rye like that, he'd be absolutely crushed.

_'I... I don't want to think about this just yet. I'm just gonna move on real quick.'_

Hiding my discomfort at the hard-hitting revelation, I hurriedly jotted down another question for Arcanine.

_Have you met any other humans?_

Arcanine considered this for a moment before shaking his head.

"Yes. No. It... it is complicated. I believe I spoke to Lee's partner before the Darkness receded from the Dark Isles, but I have not met any human-turned Pokémon. There are some... shall I say interesting Pokémon that have raised some alarms over the years, but that is unimportant," he said. "I did, however, meet a few humans when they still occupied these lands."

"Wha? Watta feck?" I asked under my breath, though quickly shrunk back as Arcanine gave me a steely look for my language. "...er, r-reh-leh?"

"Yes, quite long ago. Most tried to catch me for my Shine, but there was one who... stood out, shall I say. I would prefer not to talk about that day," Arcanine mused.

I stared at him for a moment, shocked at just how old he apparently was. He remembered actual humans? Just... damn.

_You're that old? Is that why you like humans so much?_

"Oh, no, no. There are many far older than I, some who remember the glory days of man as if they were yesterday. I suppose I am just the one who could not let go," Arcanine chuckled. "No, I look up to your race because of what they have done for this world. Without their guidance, we would all be savage beasts like the ferals you are bunched with. Even in their absence, what humanity did still holds firm. Everything you see around you, from this town to the very concept of writing, is from what they taught us. If we have gone further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

I smirked a bit at the quote as he continued.

"You should not be ashamed to be human, child. This Guild will support you in your team's quest," he reassured me. "Should you begin to think of returning home, however... by all means, come talk to me. I will be right here."

"Y-yessir," I said. Arcanine gave a smile.

"Thank you for your time, young Beck. You are dismissed, I must begin arranging the exploration. Forever forward," he said.

"Uh... f-fah... fehvvah..." I tried.

"I will take that," Arcanine nodded, turning to retreat back into his living room. With that, I turned to leave, not entirely sure what to make of the visit. While I'd been reassured that the Guild had my back, the possibility of dropping everything and going back once all this was over had been presented. For the time being, I'd soundly reject that proposal, but it was still at least worth noting.

As I waddled back towards our base, my mind couldn't help but wander towards all this, still contemplating as I sat down on my straw bed. I only really snapped out of it once I noticed Rye sitting there and watching concernedly.

"Uh, wh-what happened? How'd it go?" he asked, to which I simply shrugged. Honestly, I didn't really have anything else to give.

All I knew for certain was that the next few days were going to be interesting, to say the least.

* * *

_Clanga-clanga-clang!_

As the telltale ringing of the wakeup bell jolted me awake, I let out a light moan. I stared at the ceiling for a minute until I heard Rye get to his feet, at which point I sighed and sat up, blinking fog out of my eyes. Across from me, Rye scratched at the last remaining patches of dead skin on his body as Mavy got to his paws, messily shaking straw out of his fur. With our usual waking routines out of the way, we all exchanged glances.

"Morning," Rye said groggily.

"Ugh," Mavy groaned.

"Sheaugh," I agreed. Pleasantries given, we all headed outside and made our ways towards the mess hall for breakfast, passing by the wakeup team of Bronzong and Farfetch'd. As we passed by the boards, we noticed the steady flow of Pokémon disrupting as they seemed to suddenly stop, murmur something among each other, and head down the path towards the amphitheater.

"Uh... d-do you think that's...?" Rye asked, glancing over to me. It'd been a couple days since I'd visited Arcanine, and my checking the outlaw board every chance I got had caught the attention of both Rye and Mavy. With what I'd told them back at Tropius' restaurant, Rye had every right to be nervous as he ran over to a nearby Espurr.

"H-hey! Sir!" he called. The Espurr gave him a flat look.

"I'm a girl," she said. Rye stopped briefly, swearing to himself before continuing.

"S-sorry. Uh, what's going on?" he asked. The Espurr unnervingly stared into him for a couple seconds.

"Emergency assembly. That's all I know," she said before hurrying off to join a waiting Fennekin down the path. We hesitated for a bit, though with a worried look and a gesture to follow, Rye led us towards the Guild's amphitheater.

The three of us waited among the sea of nervously chattering Pokémon for a minute, looking around anxiously until a clamor arose around us, signifying Arcanine's arrival. Flanked by two Bisharp, he took his usual spot and regarded us all, his face still as he waited for his apprentices to calm down. Once some degree of silence had been reached, he cleared his throat.

"Thank you all for attending. I apologize for calling you here on such short notice, but this is in regards to an ongoing crisis that I suspect may be of great consequence," he began. "Firstly, I must commend our very own Team Reach for collecting much of what I am about to tell you. Three days ago, the group responsible for the attack on the Dialgite Temple attempted another theft. While they were unable to retrieve the object in question, said object is still worrisome enough to warrant this announcement."

Arcanine paused for effect, taking a deep sigh.

"It seems they were attempting to steal the Lustrous Orb. Our friends in Ebbull City have confirmed that this is not random chance, as the artifact taken from the Dialgite Temple was, in fact, the Adamant Orb. We do not know what this entails, but what matters now is that they were unsuccessful in this attempt," he said. "The organization in question is known as the Phoenix League. The whereabouts of the thief Xatu and the League's current leader, known only as the Director, are unknown at this moment, but I still ask that you keep a lookout. Known members of the League are now on the outlaw board for anyone who wishes to help. That is all I wish to say. Forever forward."

As Arcanine turned to walk away, the crowd began to murmur among itself, confused.

"Phoenixes? He doesn't mean _that_ Phoenix League, does he?"

"They... what?"

"The fuck is an Adamant Orb?"

"Hey, hey, sorry. Just let me past here."

The source of that last voice made itself clear as it clumsily climbed up onto the Guildmaster's stone podium, turning to look over the crowd. Making sure he wasn't about to fall off, Arden cleared his throat loudly to get the congregation's attention.

"Right. So, seeing as the dog didn't explain jack about those orb things, I'm just gonna do it for him. Basically, back when the world was created, we had Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. For whatever reason, once they were finished doing their thing, the three stooges of spacetime decided to stick some of their power into weird orbs, and the end result was the... fuck, I forget. Uh, the Adamant, Lustrous, and Grizzly Orbs," he explained before May's head stuck out of the crowd to whisper to him. "...what? Griseous? The fuck kind of word is... you know what, fuck it. Point is, the things are powerful, and if they happen to get all three of them, we may or may not be fucked."

The quiet crowd exchanged worried glances for a bit until a paw raised.

"How do you know so much about this?" its voice asked. Arden rolled his eyes.

"Be glad your old man didn't sit you down and drill you on this kinda shit fifty times over," he said. "So, that's really about it. Just... I don't know, go about your lives, citizens."

As the Pokémon around us began to clamor worriedly once more, Arden shot a suspicious glance in our direction before hopping off the podium and out of sight. Biting my lip, I followed Rye and Mavy out of the amphitheater, hoping some breakfast would help all that set in.

As we walked, I couldn't help but notice several more eyes than usual fixed on us, their owners whispering to each other as they walked past. As I quickly noted, their gazes seemed to be more of intrigue than suspicion, a welcome change from the usual as we headed into the mess hall.

"Ah, Team Reach! I... am honestly not sure what to tell you," Raticate said as we waited for our food. "Uh, I dunno, good job out there, I reckon. Keep it up, buckos."

"Thanks," I said, accepting the three trays and heading on over to our usual spot. Upon taking our seats, the three of us sat there in a long, awkward silence.

"...so. We ain't just dealin' with Dialga here, I gather?" Mavy eventually asked. Rye shuddered, giving an "mhm" as the Zigzagoon tapped his claws on the table.

"Aight, so apocalypse orbs, the weird cult mob... y'know, this'd be a real nice time to clue me in on ev'rything, y'know?" he suggested. After Rye only sighed, he raised his forepaws. "I kid, I kid."

After another minute of silence, I cleared my throat.

"So, er... fehd?" I suggested. Rye and Mavy quickly agreed, so we took to stuffing our faceholes. I had no way of knowing what was coming up, but I figured all I could do now was just get ready for whatever Arcanine had in store for us.

* * *

"Come on, that was a nice, informative speech. The Grizzly Orb thing wasn't that egregious," May reassured her friend.

"It's not that. Come on, can I not be stressed about... you know, that?" Arden groaned. Giving a simple sigh in response, May turned to talk to Pike, finally leaving the Quilava alone with some time to think.

Peering above the heads in the mess hall to look at Team Reach, Arden bit his lip. He'd been dreading this announcement for days now, no thanks to the vision he'd been hit with the night of the attack. Now that his superior had confirmed his fears, he was at a loss of what to do.

He felt he had understated just how fucked they all were if all three of the Orbs fell into the wrong hands. How, exactly? The last thing he wanted was to find out. But... what if Team Apex failed to stop this from happening? No, what if Team Reach failed?

_'Alright, Arden. Buddy. All you gotta do is walk up to the Oshawott, stand up real straight, and tell him that you... you're... fucking damn it!'_

Sparks escaping from the vents on his back, Arden let out a shaky sigh as he turned back to his teammates. Even if his conscience whispered to just give Oshawott and friends a chance, he still feared their failure. But he couldn't do a thing about it... he couldn't do this for much longer.

He wanted this all to end. He wanted things to go back to normal. He didn't want to hide behind the wall anymore.

At that moment, Arden almost wanted to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...well, I'm an idiot. How long have I been able to leave these?
> 
> Ugh.
> 
> Anyways, it's nice to finally get to this section of the story. The spacetime orbs have been a while coming. What do Xatu and the Phoenixes want with them? Well, stick around, and we'll have a grand ol' time rebeholding the stars.
> 
> Thanks for bearing with me up to this point, leave a comment if you want, and I'll see you on the next one.


	40. Call to Arms

"Yeah, from what I've been told, they did get all that for sure. Magnezone and Bassa Village police said so themselves. Why you asking?" Bert asked. Pike took a quick look around the mess hall behind him, making sure no unwanted ears were listening in.

"...just makin' sure," he eventually muttered. Bert snorted, crossing his arms.

"What, you don't trust ol' Arcanine himself?" he asked. Pike instinctively puffed up his feathers, giving a little squawk of shock.

"C-course I do! Just... j-just don't... ya know, Reach's a rookie team, only 'bout a moon old. Bit hard to believe they pulled all that off, ya know?" he reasoned. Bert hummed.

"True, true, but hey, if they can get to a mad feral, then-"

"Wait, wait, wait. They did what?" Pike demanded.

"You didn't hear about Team Luster?" Bert asked. Pike didn't answer, only choosing to look back at the crowd behind him as the Wartortle continued. "Anyways, er, mightcha remind me what you told me your group was up to after a moon?" he asked. Pike considered for a minute.

"...cuttin' off the Serperior bridgehead," he sighed. "Ya got me there. Sorry to bother ya."

As Pike turned to hop back towards his teammates, Bert sat there for a moment before giving a little chuckle to himself and kicking back in his seat. While the rest of the Guild's staff clearly hadn't told him everything, he felt he'd heard enough. With his fellow trainers getting up to turn in their platters, Bert craned his head to look over the mass of Pokémon.

"Knew you guys were something special from the moment you saved my tail on the Serperior. Good job, kid," he said under his breath. With that, he got up and made for the exit, pride in both his teaching and his student bubbling up within him.

Pike, meanwhile, was far from proud.

"Damn fool, honestly. The fuck was he even thinkin', takin' up a feral like that?" he muttered under his breath.

Even as he quietly judged Bert for his decisions, Pike was not entirely sure what to make of this situation. As he turned his platter in, he looked to the floor contemplatively. Something was wrong here, he knew it. This sort of thing did not just happen, especially given the circumstances. How could a team go from the quiet apprentice and a dungeon feral to this in only a moon? This type of success story just didn't happen outside of children's tales, and Team Reach was most certainly not the Radiant Squad searching for sweets.

Unless... what if the Oshawott...?

No. No, that was impossible. Pike had heard more than enough to know what former humans were like, and there was no way in distortion that a dungeon feral, of all things, could be one. He simply could not associate a noble explorer, much less a human with... _that,_ not after everything he'd been through.

There was simply no way.

Grinding his beak and stroking a feather over his Sharpbeak pendant, Pike followed his teammates out the door, then spread his wings to fly back to their base. As he circled the building, something caught his attention: the smashed remains of the team's mailbox. The Swellow's eye twitched.

"Bagon, ya little shit! I'm gonna-" he cawed as he landed, only for something among the wreckage to cut him off. Curiously brushing aside the debris, his feathers stood on end at what he found.

"Oh, sh..." he whispered.

The item in question appeared to be a scroll with a red rod at its center and adorned with the Guildmaster's pawprint. These distinctive features could only mean one thing: Team Apex had been sent an official call to action.

...Pike figured he could scold Bagon for his destructive roof-diving later.

* * *

"Uh, what do we do now? Should we just wait for something to happen?" Rye asked.

"Well, unless Scruffy here's got any ideas, then sounds like a plan," Mavy said, zigzagging after us as we strolled out of the mess hall. Giving a little sigh in response, I gestured the two along. Before we did anything else, I wanted to check something first.

With a couple of right turns, the boards came into view, so I bounded over to the news board first and foremost. Amidst the sea of parchment, I found several familiar sketches, the most noticeable ones showing the hole in the ruined complex, what seemed to be the Scizor from my vision (albeit with noticeably warped facial armor), and... uh, me and Sinni. At least, I think it was supposed to be, though it looked like the artist must have decided to take a few creative liberties. I couldn't help but huff a bit as the laid-back Dewott in the drawing smirked back at me. I guess hearing about a little Oshawott helping in that raid might have been just a bit too out there, but this was... wait, were my ears really that big?

With a grimace, I left Rye and Mavy to read as I waddled over to the outlaw board. The posters were hard to see and partially covered up by the other tacked-on posters, but they were there. Crude sketches of Xatu, a Gengar, the Linoone I'd seen, and several other Phoenixes stared down at me as I looked them over. The only outlier seemed to only have text, one I guessed was reserved for their leader; the Director, I think Arcanine had called him.

Having caught up to me, Rye took a moment to gaze up at the posters, giving a little sigh at their arrangement.

"G-guess whoever hung them didn't know," he reasoned.

"Lazy ass is what I... think..." Mavy said.

"Well, uh, at least someone could catch these 'mons now, right? Th-that'd be nice," Rye said. After regarding the posters for a bit, he cleared his throat. "Uh, let's head back, get ready for the job today."

"Yeah," I agreed. We turned to leave, but I quickly noticed Mavy still lingering. I looked back curiously just in time to see him tear his eyes away from one of the posters, a grim expression on his face. As we walked, he looked up at me.

"Beck, uh... didja happen to see, er, a Linoone while you were out in the desert?" he asked.

"Er, yeah," I said. A second passed before the implications of the question hit me and I looked down at Mavy, my eyes wide.

"...that don't mean nothing. I-I mean, it ain't like Pa's the only Linoone around, right? Chances are he's still down south cuttin' lumber," the Zigzagoon nodded.

Giving him a long look, I just smiled and nodded. I could only hope he was right, because... yeah.

We didn't get long to think this over, though, because as we approached our base, Rye suddenly stopped short. It seemed we had mail in the mail slot, and as Rye walked over and fished it out, I cocked my head. I hadn't seen a scroll be used for mail before. I tried to ask Rye about this, but he only stared bug-eyed at the scroll like it was made of gold leaf.

"Th-this... I... oh, Jirachi..." he choked out, hurriedly tearing the seal off and unfurling it.

"What's the matter?" Mavy asked.

"Th-this is a call to action from Mr. Arcanine!" Rye exclaimed, excitedly jittering for a bit before calming down enough to read the scroll's contents. "Uh, okay, okay... t-to Team Reach. After much consideration, we have decided that your abilities as apprentices on this Guild are desirable for, uh, a-an upcoming mission. You are to be deployed to the as-of-yet unexplored ruin uncovered in the Imperium Desert three days ago to investigate whatever is inside. Other teams joining you will be Teams, uh, Stonewall, Ruby, Frontier, A-Apex and Joules. You have two days to prepare."

We all looked up at each other for a minute, quiet as the news sunk in.

"...so nah wha?" I asked.

"Well... i-it says we have two days. Uh, I think we should train one day and stock up the next. I-I mean, we might have to fight, I don't know. Even if the other teams have our backs, it's best to be ready," Rye responded.

"What we doin', then? A dungeon dive?" Mavy asked. Rye gave him a quizzical look.

"Uh, we can do one-on-one or just go to the training grounds," he said. Mavy's eyes seemed to light up as his ears pricked.

"We got a place for training? Guess I know where ah'll be the rest o' the day!" he said before turning to zigzag off, only to stop in his tracks. "Right. Uh, where they at?"

"Let's... uh, figure out what we need to work on first, alright?" Rye offered. Mavy rolled his eyes.

"Come on, now. Beck, buddy, don't you wanna go and-" he began.

"Nah, am weth Rye," I said, inching towards the Treecko. Mavy opened his mouth to argue, but he soon just hung his head, unwilling to argue with the democratic process. With that, I followed the two into our base, a skip in my step as we started getting ready. An exploration overseen by the Guild? I doubted the Phoenixes would try and poke in on that, and that was just fine by me. Needless to say, I was pretty excited.

We had those couple of days to get out of the way first, of course.

* * *

"You gon drown me, kid?"

With a smirk, Mavy jumped out of the way of a Water Gun and just missed me with a barrage of Pin Missiles.

"That almost got me there, maybe try har-!"

I gritted my teeth as an Aqua Slap missed its mark, only to get a Sand Attack into my face.

"That all you got? Disappointed, I gotta s- ah!"

I delivered a hard Tackle that took the Zigzagoon to the ground for a minute, but not for long.

"Rye's right there, buddy, you can call quits whenever-"

"Shat ahp!" I yelled as Mavy kept gleefully zigzagging around me. Though I couldn't see too well through the dirt in my eyes, I wasn't about to let the Zigzagoon get out of this sparring match unscathed. My eyes clenched shut, I started spinning around as I fired off a long jet of water. I figured that if anything, I'd hit Mavy in his running around if I was lucky. Sure enough, I quickly heard him sputter as my attack landed, so I pried open my eyes and ran to take advantage of the brief opening. As I tackled him and hit him in the face with a couple of Aqua Slaps, he threw up his forepaws in defeat.

"Aight, I give!" he said. With that, I stopped and rolled off of him, allowing the Zigzagoon to hop over to a nearby tree stump where Rye sat and watched worriedly.

While sure, this training was a bit rough around the edges, it was the best we had for the given situation. Rye had insisted we pinpoint aspects to work on before going to the training grounds, so upon securing a sufficient clearing in the woods and a few berries, we'd ended up here. It was all fine and good, I guess, but I just wished we could've done this a few days later.

Feeling at my belly, my paw met the little hard spot that had started growing there that morning. I guessed this new scalchop would be big enough to use to some degree in a couple of days, and being so close but so far from having my handy little weapon back was irritating, to say the least.

I gave a little sigh and begrudgingly pushed this qualm back again as I sat down on the sidelines, grabbing a berry to soothe the wounds from that brief fight. As I felt tangy purple juice dribble down my chin, I exchanged a glance with Rye. He'd promised to fight the winner, but now he wasn't looking so sure of himself there. Before long, I pushed myself up, feeling at least good enough to fight. Rye quickly followed, shakily getting into stance as we faced each other on the field.

"Whatever happens... er, I-I'm sorry," he said. I didn't answer, only giving a reassuring nod as Mavy called for the match to begin.

I immediately got hit in the side with a Quick Attack, to which I responded by quickly bounding away as I clutched my smarting ribs. I knew I was at a disadvantage here, seeing as Rye was a Grass-type, but I knew he wasn't particularly good at ranged combat. I figured if I could just keep my distance, I'd have a better chance at winning here.

Watching me as I rubbed at my side, Rye bit his lip before running to meet me, getting a Water Gun to the gut. This just slowed him down, though, and as he got within range, our glowing tails clashed in two separate attacks before I scurried to the other side of the field, shooting another jet of water at Rye for good measure. Appearing to realize what I was doing, the Treecko stopped for a moment to send me a light glare.

"Come on, th-that's not fair!" he protested.

"Shaa," I shrugged before bounding at him to get in a couple quick strikes. Panicking for a second, Rye shakily inhaled, his eyes beginning to glow as he instinctively got into stance. I gave a little battle cry as I made to Tackle Rye, but a sudden hot pain in my side sent me to the ground.

"Ah! Agh!" I yelped as I hosed off my side, which was now covered in a blanket of short purple flames. Although the flames didn't go out very easily and the area felt numb, it didn't feel like there was that much damage, so I pushed myself back up to continue the fight, a confident smile on my face. Instead of a fight, though, I only found Rye staring in horror at what his Dragon Breath had done. After a second's hesitation, he hung his head.

"I-I forfeit," he said. Mavy and I stared at the Treecko as he sulked over to the sidelines and plopped down on the sideline stump. I stared at his pitiful state for a moment, feeling at my tingling side all the while before I waddled over to join him.

"I'm sorry," Rye muttered as I sat down. I gave a little sigh.

"Rye, is okeh," I said.

"B-but I lost control again and hurt you. I-" Rye began.

"Is fine, rehly," I tried. Rye didn't seem reassured, so I just sat there for a minute, rubbing at my tingling thigh until Mavy scoffed from the ground below.

"Why you gotta get all moody over this, of all things? It's a battle, yer supposed to hurt the 'mon," he said as he fidgeted with the underbrush.

"It's not like that! I-it's-" Rye interjected.

"Rye, yeh fine. Nah mah sorry, yeah?" I said. The Treecko looked at me, confusion shining through his frustration.

"Wh-what do you mean no ma- uh, more sorry? You mean I should just...?" he asked. I gave a cry of affirmation, balling up a paw and punching my palm. In response, Rye just groaned.

"No, it... you don't get it! I can't... n-never mind," he sighed. As he crumpled in place, I kept rubbing at the pins-and-needles feeling in my thigh, letting out a sigh as I realized it wasn't going away.

"Rye? Sheh-ree?" I asked. Snapping back, Rye hurriedly nodded and fished a Cheri out of our little stockpile, his tail drooping but his face becoming determined as he tossed it over and stood to address us.

"A-alright, I'm gonna head to the training grounds if you two wanna come. So Mavy, you need to work on, uh, not focusing on just talking. Beck, I-I think you can polish some things out. I... uh, I need to find a Dragon that can help me," he summarized. Mavy seemed ever so slightly disgruntled at his recommendation, but still smirked as he pushed himself up.

"How 'bout this? Last one there has to shave his fur off. Or, er, we can paint Rye's face if he loses," he said. As I spit out the Cheri's pit, I exchanged a look with Rye, the both of us giving each other a smirk as I felt feeling return to my side.

"Y-you're on. Okay, Team Reach! Split off!" Rye commanded, prompting the three of us to bolt off in separate directions. As Rye climbed up into the trees to jump along the branches and Mavy kept zigzagging through the shrubbery in the Guild's general direction, I gave a little smile. Did all Pokémon do stuff like that? Did each species have its own little quirk when it came to dramatic forest running?

 _'If so, then who am I to object?'_ I figured as I emerged from the woods and dove into the river below without hesitation. The training grounds were just downstream, so why not? Taking a minute to let the river's cool water flow over my wounds, I soon turned downstream and began beating my tail, already wondering how Mavy was going to try and wriggle out of his own consequences.

* * *

As the sun began to climb down from its peak in the sky, my tail streaked through the air as I spun around, striking at an imaginary foe in a graceful display as Bert sat and watched on. The Wartortle gave a little shrug as I turned to face him.

"Well, it's no Aqua Tail, but y'know, it's a start," he said. My face fell.

"Wha?" I asked.

"The energy needed for a good Aqua Tail... it's too much for a Pokémon at your level. You won't be using it for... well, let's just say you'll probably be a Dewott when you can realistically use it in a fight. Closest new technique I can think of is Water Pulse, and that takes effort. Maybe just work on improving what you've got," Bert reasoned. I disappointedly hung my head, prompting the Wartortle to rock up off his shell and walk over to me.

"Eh, don't sweat it, kid. It never benefited anyone rushing in on things. Besides, you're doing just fine as is, you just need a bit more work around the edges, you know?" he asked.

"Er, wahk?" I asked.

"Reflexes, endurance, all that. I mean, look at... ahem, the thing coming up. Uncharted territory's rough, you're gonna wanna focus on endurance and the like more than combat, I think," he reasoned. When I didn't stop sulking, he sighed. "Don't get the wrong idea, it's not that you're bad, far from it. Just know that feral or not, I... well, you've done good. I'm proud of you."

I thought this over silently for a moment, the sounds of battle behind me backing my consideration. Before long, I sighed and nodded. Bert gave a toothy grin in response.

"Alright! Got nothing booked for the rest of the day, so let's try some good ol' physical training, yeah? Hop in the river and hold your breath for as long as you can, see if you can't push it," he instructed.

"Yeh, mah-steh," I said. Bert blinked hard, taken by surprise.

"Master? Well, I... please, just Bert. No need for formality," he chuckled, holding up his hands. I cleared my throat a bit, scratching my chest fur awkwardly.

"Er, yessir, Baht," I corrected myself. As Bert gave a satisfied smile at this, we both jumped into the river.

For the next couple hours, I did my best to push myself to my limits. I'd spent an hour and a half holding my breath and envying Bert's apparent gills, then what felt like two hours more of situps, heavy lifting, and running around the grounds. I managed to catch a glimpse of my teammates during my jog, noting Rye respectfully talking to the Goodra manning the Dragon-type grounds and Mavy practicing as a Stoutland watched. Unfortunately, I could only manage in a quick wave before continuing on. It was grueling, but at this point, I felt like I could take more. As my short little legs ached, I shakily raised a paw to show my continued cooperation, to which Bert hummed.

"Still not out for the count, eh? Well, then... uh, swim to town limits and back as fast as you can, then try and beat your time. We'll keep on going till you tire out. Sound alright?" he instructed.

"Yessir," I said, wading into the water as the Wartortle watched, waiting for me to head in neck-deep.

"On my mark... go!" he barked. I quickly submerged myself and shot through the cool water like a torpedo, sticking my eyes just above water to keep track of my progress. Despite the aching from all the previous working out, I felt soothed enough by the water to keep swimming through the clear river, the now-setting sun casting a tranquil glow on the water around me. Passing the last of Impetus Town's little riverfront shops after maybe five minutes, I turned around to head back. I'd made decent time, but there was definitely room for improvement. Not that I could do much improving afterwards, that is.

As I swam past the town's waterfront, I passed under a rather large rock jutting out over the water. The thing made me nervous; what if it suddenly gave and fell on top of me? I only worried about this for a second, as I quickly passed the menacing crag. As I emerged from under it, though, a sudden anomaly caught my eye. Sparing a quick look up, I slowed down to a halt. Sitting down on the rock's edge was Arden, looking worse for wear as he stared down at the bubbling river. It seemed he was oblivious to my presence, so I clung on to the river's bank and kept hidden, curious as to what exactly he was doing.

The Quilava stared down at the river absentmindedly, seemingly taking in the scenery for a minute before sighing.

"Hey, guys. It's... uh, it's been a while, huh?" he asked the flowing water. After waiting for a bit, he continued. "So... things are looking pretty fucked on my end. I get you'd tell me to just do what I have to do to fix things, Mom, but... I don't know."

A moment of silence passed before Arden cleared his throat and continued.

"Um... I-I hear we'll be heading over to, uh, the desert to try and see if we can fix things. Remember that place? Heh, we always wanted to go as a family, and... we came close. You know, the tickets, Otto? That'd have been... y-you know. Then, well, everything went to shit, and... now I..."

A quiet sniffle sounded out.

"I-I honestly don't know how long I can keep this up. I... I miss you guys..."

Arden hung his head, clenching his eyes shut as he silently sat there. It wasn't too long, though, before quiet footfalls joined the ambiance, inciting a sigh from Arden.

"May, I've told you not to follow me when-" he started.

"I was curious, is all. A trip to the rock doesn't usually spell out sunshine and daisies," the Leafeon said as she walked up to the edge of the rock, watching Arden for a minute before sitting down beside him as I kept watching.

"Welp, you caught me here again. Great, now what do you want from me?" the Quilava eventually asked. May bit her lip as she watched the water flow below.

"I'm worried about you, Ardie. You're clearly not fine. Please, just... talk to me," she said bluntly. When Arden only looked away from her in response, she sighed. "I get it's Guild business, but you know, no one's out here but us. The dog won't care."

A minute of silence passed.

"...it's this whole thing going on. Arcanine thinks there's a human involved, and... well, clearly some shit's going down if that's the case," Arden said. I nervously shrank into the water as May's eyes widened.

"A... human?" she asked. Arden gave her a grim look, not answering as she considered. "Is it... uh, do you know who it is?"

Arden hesitated for a bit.

"Don't know," he soon said. May gave a nod, thankfully choosing not to pursue this any further.

"Alright, but... what about the whole thing with Rye's team and the nightmare?" she asked.

"Who said anything about Rye's team?" Arden defended. May only gave a sigh.

"Really, now," she said. As Arden kept silently watching the water. she inched closer to him. "So, um... what _are_ you doing here, exactly?" she asked. A moment of silence hung in the air.

"Visiting with the family," Arden said bluntly. May was quiet for a minute.

"...oh. Arden, I... we're here for you, you know that. I know, I could never know how it feels, but... Pike and I, we have your back," May said.

"Yeah, alright, but what if..." Arden started before trailing off. As I listened, he groaned lightly. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Something about his tone of voice told me that this wasn't going to be the end of whatever was going on with him, and judging by what I could see, May wasn't entirely convinced, either. Despite this, Arden didn't seem to be sulking anymore, so she resigned herself to watching the sun as it sunk ever lower behind the treeline, filling the sky with brilliant oranges and pinks.

"Nice sunset," Arden eventually said.

"Yeah. Brings back memories," May replied. Arden spared the Leafeon a small smile, looking over at her.

"Yeah? Like what?" he asked.

"Well, sky looked an awful lot like this the day you came sputtering about wanting to be... ahem, friends," May shrugged.

"What do you mean, sputt-" Arden started before tensing up. "May, come on. You weren't any better, you know."

May gave a smirk.

"Guhh, May, been wanting to talk to you," she said, mocking Arden's voice.

"Oh, nice, guhh, same here," Arden rebutted.

"So, uh, we've known each other for two months now, and, guh-"

"Wow, th-th-that's convenient, I wanted to say the same thing. So, guhh, anyways, you wanna maybe go and, uhhhh-"

"Alright, alright, enough. Any more and I'll jump in and drown myself," May suddenly butted in. The two shared a laugh as I stared up at them, unsure of what exactly I'd swam in on.

"So, what about you? Any memories coming up?" the Leafeon asked. Arden sat back, resting his forepaws on the ground behind him.

"The day we met, I guess. You know, that whole day of powering through being capped off with a nice sunset," he said offhandedly. May gave a loud snort to herself.

"Oh, sure, powering through. Yeah, the blood red there really gets all that powering through across," she remarked, pointing to a hue of red in the sky. Arden rolled his eyes.

"Come on, you know I have my ways," he said.

"Ah, yes, because that involves half your ribs broken, an arm and a leg broken..." May started.

"May-"

"...trauma to the head, internal bleeding, and let's not forget screaming and panicking like Darkrai just kicked your door down and violated you."

"Come on, have an open mind."

"You were so bloodied you couldn't even open your eyes at first. You'd have been dead within the hour if I hadn't heard your pathetic little cries."

"You can't say that for certain. The big guy could've found me and healed me up, you know?"

"...I'm still in disbelief you've even lasted this long, Ardie," May said. Smirk still on his face, Arden put an arm around the Leafeon.

"Same goes for you, Mayday," he said. The two watched the sun for another bit before Arden's ears stuck up. "You still remember our song, right?"

May didn't answer, and as she waited, Arden sighed.

" _I... I will be king,"_ he sang. _"And you, you will be queen..."_

A few seconds of silence hung in the air before May responded.

" _And nothing will drive them away... we can be heroes, just for one day..."_ she sang.

" _We can be us... just for one day,"_ Arden finished. The two of them grinning ear to ear, they kept sitting in silence together as I turned my gaze back down to the river, my head still half-submerged.

That was... something. While there was a good bit to consider there, the first my brain commented on was how low the sun was getting. It was still above the treeline when I'd... I'd... oh. Oh, no. I'd forgotten I was being timed!

Quietly panicking to myself, I silently submerged myself and shot away from the rock, leaving the two to sit. I furiously beat my tail as hard as I could until I burst from the water and clambered onto solid stone as Bert jumped back in surprise at my sudden appearance.

"Ah! Kid! What took you?" he asked, running over to meet me as I got to my feet.

"Aagh," I said.

"What, did Alakazam send another house into the river?" he half-joked.

"...yeah. Hass in rivah," I said. Bert blinked a couple times.

"Oh," he said before craning his head up towards the river. "Uh, can... I see it?"

"...no," I soon said. Bert opened his mouth to say more, but ultimately just shook his head increduously.

"Right, anyways. Daylight's burned out, can't really do much more. You can just head on back, I guess. Getcha some sleep, alright? You'll need it," he said.

"Yessir, tank you," I said.

Bert gave a grin and a nod, so I turned to drag myself back to base as he jumped into the river. By the looks of it, both Rye and Mavy had finished up, so with no one to wait for, I decided to go ahead and excuse myself. With what I'd heard on the rock fresh in my mind, I stiffly headed through the grounds' gates to hopefully figure things out over some dinner.

Wearily dragging my tail through the Guild's campus, I soon headed into our quarters, waving at Rye and Mavy before collapsing onto my bed. Rye gave me a quick look of concern before scratching at the back of his head, seemingly at one of the last bits of unshedded skin.

"Uh. w-we were about to head out for dinner. We can bring some back if... uh, you're busy," Rye said, watching me as I rolled onto my back.

"Nah, no. Am fine," I said. Despite my claims, I just took a minute to lie there before hauling myself up, prompting the three of us to start towards the mess hall.

"So, uh, what'd you two do? I tried to work on my Dragon Breath with Master Goodra. I-I don't know if I made any progress, though," Rye said.

"Stoutland was aight, I guess. Couldn't really follow along, he had a weird accent, but ah can do this now," Mavy said before turning and trying to make Lillipup-eyes at me. I stared at him for a minute before awkwardly looking away. The Zigzagoon's odd look faltered.

"What, that didn't work? That was supposed to be a Babydoll-Eyes. Did I not put enough juice in it?" he muttered to himself as Rye craned his head to look at me.

"How about you?" he asked.

"Uh... trening. Shweemin. Saw Sh-Shahden," I said. Rye cocked his head.

"You saw Mr. Arden? But he doesn't ever go to the training grounds... wh-what was he doing?" he asked.

"Tahkin. Dahno," I shrugged.

"Huh," Rye said before straightening up. "W-well, I guess we'll just be stocking up tomorrow, I think we've got enough Poké. Uh, I guess we'll talk about what we need over dinner."

As we entered the mess hall and got into line, I stared off to try and think, but Rye suddenly jerked his head to look at Mavy.

"Oh, uh, Mavy? Remember the dare?" he asked, barely suppressing a humored smile. Mavy looked up confusedly for a minute before the fur on his back suddenly stood on end.

"Uh..." he said, panic in his voice.

"Y-you were last to the grounds. You gotta shave," Rye said. Mavy's face fell as he tried to come up with a rebuttal. Before long, though, he cleared his throat.

"I never said nothin' 'bout shaving. Ah said we'd paint your face if you lost," he said matter-of-factually. Rye and I exchanged a look.

This was going to take a while, it seemed.


	41. Long Way Aways

"Why, good morning, Treecko!" Kecleon piped from his store window. "What might I do for you today?"

As the sun peeked out over Impetus Town, the three of us stood in front of the Kecleons' humble shop. With our schedule going along swimmingly so far, we'd decided to go ahead with today being a shopping day. While we probably wouldn't be needing anything in terms of dungeon materials, our list was still long regardless. First things first, though, we needed food. Aside from our noticeable lack of regular food, I'd noticed that a couple of our berries were starting to grow all moldy, so replacing them was of priority.

As for what I'd heard Arden and May discussing yesterday... well, I honestly didn't have it in me to really worry about it for long. I mean, sure, Arden knew there was a human involved in all this, but he hadn't mentioned me, had he? Honestly, I was just getting used to all this, so at this point, I'd just brushed most of my concerns from that conversation aside.

If I was causing the Quilava that much stress, though...

_'Hrm. Might have to look into that in the future.'_

As Rye told the green shopkeeper of our needs, his purple partner gave me a sideways glance, his scales taking on a bit of a paler hue as he shifted in place uncomfortably. I gritted my teeth, knowing where this was probably going; I hadn't forgotten when I'd been politely shooed away by the two that one time. However, after a minute, Purple just nervously pursed his lips and averted his gaze, staying at the counter as Green headed into the back. I blinked once or twice as I watched him stand there.

_'Huh... well, that's an improvement.'_

Before long, Green emerged from the back and handed Rye a sack that a quick look showed to be full of various berries and foodstuffs.

"That'll be 900 Poké. Remember if you need to put all this anywhere, there's always the Durants next door," the shopkeeper said, pointing to a tall dirt mound next foor teeming with metallic-looking insects crawling in and out. "Their tunnels go down a hundred feet, they're the safest storage business this part of Gray Proper, and their services are free for everyone on the Guild!"

As the nearest of the Durants gave a bit too perfectly timed wave at the clearly premeditated pitch, Rye cleared his throat.

"Uh, w-we'll check them out some time. Thank you," he said, pushing a few coins onto the counter. With that, we filed out of the line and headed back to town square as Rye looked over the berries we'd bought.

"Okay, alright. Uh, we have, like, three thousand Poké, I guess we can grab rope, supplies for c-camping, and, uh, scissors," he said. Mavy and I gave him a confused look.

"Wha?" I asked.

"W-well, Mavy's still gotta shave, right?" Rye said. Mavy bit back what sounded like a swear, but managed to keep his cool.

"Ain't gotta do nothing. You wouldn't want poor little me goin' buck naked on your lil' expedition; I mean, Pa always... uh..."

The Zigzagoon faltered as he zigzagged along, his face becoming distant for a moment before he quietly cleared his throat.

"So, uh, where we goin', then?" he asked.

"There's a bunch of merchants at the bend on Stonecutter Road. Impetus Town's a Guild town, so I think we'll find what we need. Th-they might not be, uh, used to you, Beck, so j-just stay close, alright?" Rye said. I nodded, waddling along as we headed through town square and onto an unassuming street.

Before long, the road took a sudden forty-five degree turn to the left, where I found myself surrounded by colorful awnings lining the street and the shopkeepers under them selling their wares. I inched towards Rye as the vendors shouted their usual marketer rhetoric.

"Used scarves and bows! Pecha, defense, choice ribbons! They're in good condition, get 'em while you can!"

"Sugar dates! Sugar dates and figs!"

"Hey, kid, you see these? These're Escape Orb shards used by the explorer Ursaring when he scaled Mount Inverse! You- wait, I'll give you a good price!"

"Exotic meats here! We got frost Vulpix, we got Heracross, we got Osha- wait, crap, th-there's- uh, these can't be found here in Gray Proper, get a taste before they're gone!"

"Tents, charcoal, anchor devices! All you need to camp safely sold here!"

Nice to see the concept of pushy salesmen hadn't changed.

As Mavy wandered off to examine the Thievul selling scarves, Rye lead me to the Watchog advertising camping supplies.

"Sir? We, uh, need a tent, do you have any for deserts?" he asked. The Watchog gave something between a scoff and a chuckle.

"Do I? Well, little Grassie, you got a good few options here. See, there's this one, keeps out the cold at night. Gets mighty cold out there, always useful for coldbloods like you. Then there's this one, it provides extra protection against the burrowing ferals out there..."

I quickly got bored of the vendor's spiel on what type of tent was best suited for the season and began to restlessly look around. Being a relatively small town, it seemed Impetus Town didn't boast too big of a market, as only fifteen or so vendors were gathered here. Despite this, I couldn't help but stray off to see the sights. I don't know, I was curious. What would a Pokémon market be selling aside from... uh, weird meat?

As the Watchog turned to dig from his pile of tents, Rye gave me a quick worried look as I approached one of the makeshift shops, where a Buneary sat quietly over random trinkets strewn on the ground. It ears stuck up curiously as I approached and looked at some of the stuff on sale, cocking my head. Most of it looked to be used and of not much interest, with only a couple things of much note. Before long, though, I stopped and hunched over to examine a particular item: a banjo, by the looks of it.

_'Huh. I remember how to play this, don't I? Yeah, that time at the amphitheater...'_

Though crude and well-worn, an experimental strum of its strings gave a promising sound. As Buneary took notice of my interest, I gave a little smirk.

"Hah mash?" I asked the shopkeeper.

Before long, Rye walked up with a satchel and a length of rope around his arm, only to find me three hundred Poké lighter and proudly lugging my purchase along. The Treecko stared for a bit before giving a little smile.

"Y-you want me to carry it for you?" he offered.

"Yeah, thanks," I said. As Rye took the banjo off my paws to hold under his other arm, he double-checked the rest of his load and waved me along to leave the little market. Mavy quickly caught up to us with a bundle of cloth haphazardly resting upon his head, and as it threatened to fall off from his zigzag walking, he gave Rye's cargo an odd look.

"What's all that?" he asked.

"Uh, a-a tent, some rope, an orb frame, and this... uh, instrument Beck got," Rye said. Mavy blinked confusedly.

"Why the instrument?" he asked. Rye shrugged, prompting the Zigzagoon to narrow his eyes.

"There ain't some kinda festival comin' up, is there? If not, then that's a buncha cash down the well. Like, I at least tried to buy us some team bandannas, but y'know... you're alright with that?" he asked.

"I-it's alright," Rye said, giving me a reassuring glance. Mavy just rolled his eyes in response.

"Both o' y'all are crazy," he said. With that observation, we headed back into the Guild proper, waving at Cinccino for a bit before a shrill voice caught my attention.

"Hey! Hey, you guys!"

Turning around, I found a Nidoran at Cinccino's window waving a paw at me as her Seedot friend watched us curiously... hey, wait.

_'Hey, it's the Nidoran we helped out! Uh, when was that? Our... first mission? Damn, it's been a while.'_

"Oh, hey!" Rye called as he ran over to the two. Seeing us running up, Cinccino smiled.

"You know Team Reach? Well, good, always nice to know someone in the Guild!" she piped. As Nidoran grinned in response, I stepped forward.

"Wha dahing hah?" I asked.

"Huh?" Nidoran asked as Seedot inched back nervously.

"H-he asked what you two're doing here, I think," Rye clarified. Nidoran nodded before nudging Seedot, who jumped a bit before clearing his throat, a sound akin to wood clacking against wood.

"Well, uh, you left an impression on her, by the looks of it. We've always wanted to hold our own and make it in the Guild, and, uh, she decided if a dungeon feral can do it, then anyone can," he said.

"Yep! We just finished the paperwork, and now we're a team on this Guild! We're Team Hemlock!" Nidoran declared. Rye and I gave a grin in response.

"W-well, uh, congratulations!" he said.

"Yeah, cah-greh-sha-shawah... y-yeah!" I added. As Mavy gave us a look, clearly confused, Nidoran beamed.

"Uh, we're gonna set out on our first mission tomorrow, and after that we're gonna try and evolve! How about you, what're you up to?" she asked, pointing at Rye's load. The Treecko hesitated for a second before the both of us looked over to Cinccino, who forced a smile as she ever so subtly shook her head. Understanding, Rye looked back to Nidoran and Seedot.

"Uh, we're about to survey up the, uh, Moder River. W-wild ferals, you know?" he said. Cinccino gave a quiet sigh of relief as Nidoran nodded.

"Oh, that's... cool! Uh, maybe we can talk about it later, we've gotta finish our housing stuff!" she said. With that, she grabbed her new team badge in her mouth and started dragging Seedot along by his Pecha scarf. "See you around, Team Reach!" she added.

"Yeah, see you, uh, Team Hemlock," Rye called before the two disappeared behind the Guild's team bases. Now that we were alone, Cinccino gave us a quick look before waving us off and turning to the next team in line. With that gesture, the three of us reluctantly moved along. While I wasn't too informed on what would be going on with the two, I was happy to have inspired them. Confidence bubbling up, I waddled after Rye and Mavy as they walked into our base and set our haul down. After a quick check from Rye, he turned to address us.

"So, uh... y-yeah! I think we're ready! Uh, make any preparations you need to, we've got all day. Uh... y-yeah!" he said. "Team Reach?"

"Teem Reesh!" I responded.

"Yeah, Team Reach," Mavy parroted.

With an encouraging grin, Rye nodded before turning to tuck our purchases away. Having nothing better to do, I grabbed for my new banjo, and as both Rye and Mavy gave curious glances, positioned it over my little form. Now, it was by no means ideal for my two-foot, stubby-armed body, but eh. I figured could improvise.

_Twang!_

"Ah get the feelin' I'm gonna come to hate that noise," Mavy said.

* * *

The blissful darkness of sleep began to part as I became aware of a sour smell filling my nostrils. Stirring as consciousness hit me like a truck, I opened my eyes in time to see Rye rubbing at his head as a Guild Pokémon stuck a cloth in Mavy's muzzle, waking him almost immediately. Seeing us all awake, the Delcatty nodded to herself and put away the Chesto powder-covered cloth.

"Gather your things and report to the amphitheater as soon as possible. The rest of the expedition will be waiting. Stay quiet and don't disturb anyone," she whispered before quickly walking out to move on to the next team on her list.

The sky outside was still dark, suggesting that it was early morning, and an eerie silence hung around us as the Chesto set in. After a minute, Rye got to his feet and quietly picked up one of our bags, looking around for any missed item as I uncomfortably tugged at my new bandanna. Mavy had insisted we wear them since he'd already paid for them, so it seemed we were stuck wearing these dirty things for the trip. Rubbing at his own, Rye looked around for a second before adjusting our bag on his shoulder and giving a gesture.

Minding the banjo now awkwardly sticking out, he led Mavy and I outside on tiptoes, careful to not disturb our neighbors, whoever they might be. With no torches lighting the roads, an unsettling aura followed us as we cautiously made our way through the Guild, only relaxing as the dimly lit amphitheater came into view.

Among the other teams gathered there, it seemed there were only two with more cargo than one bag, one of which was Team Apex; the other three I could assume were not quite elite level. Regardless of their level, it seemed most of them now regarded us with general confusion as I sheepishly waved and took a seat next to Rye. As we got a look from Arden and a proud grin from May, the team next to us gave us a sideways glance and began gossiping.

"You owe me twenty Poké. Wasn't a typo," a Luxio said. As her Emolga partner grumbled and dug for payment, the Electabuzz in the trio rolled his eyes.

"I tell you, Arcanine's gone senile. I mean, come on. It's enough they're only a moon old, but really, who in their right mind slates someone like a Zigzagoon for an expedition?" he whispered a bit too audibly. Mavy growled a bit as his fur bristled.

"Not all Normal-types, asshole," he called over, inciting a flinch from the Electabuzz. As he grimaced at his laughing partners, a new trio of Pokémon entered the amphitheater, followed by Delcatty and a couple of other officials. As the gathering fell to a hush, she took Arcanine's usual place and unfurled a map before beginning to address us.

"Thank you all for coming. As you all know, we are about to set out for the Imperium Desert. This will be a relatively minor expedition, meaning the Guildmaster will not be coming with us. As expedition leader, I'll lay out the plan real quick before we depart," she said quietly before gesturing to the map, which showed a drawn line snaking between Impetus Town and Bassa Village. "Now, due to our numbers and the location of the find, we probably won't be able to arrange any flights, so we will have to make the journey on foot."

I heard a few protests from the Pokémon around me before Delcatty continued.

"We will hike along the Divide trail until we meet our contacts in the Imperium Desert tomorrow afternoon, then they'll take us to the site in time to set up camp. Any questions?" she asked. When no grievances were shared, she nodded as the Hitmonchan flanking her rolled up the map. "Right, then, we're off. Forever forward," she said.

"Forever forward," came the hushed reply. Rye adjusted our bag on his shoulder before the three of us stood up to join our fellow guildmates as they made a final check of their supplies. With a wave of Delcatty's tail, we started down the road, the amphitheater's lights going out behind us as we left. As our caravan of twenty passed through the Guild's gates, I took a quick look back before the group turned on the road north.

"You nervous, Beck?" Rye asked. I looked over at the Treecko, giving a small sigh.

"Yeah. Yeh?" I asked.

"You know it," Rye said, smirking a bit as his tail twitched. "Uh, you good so far, Mavy?"

"Boy, we just started walkin'. I'd make sure you'd know if ah weren't good," Mavy said. Biting his lip, Rye nodded as chatter began to rise ahead of us. Now that it seemed there was distance between us and the Guild, the Pokémon in our caravan had started lighting torches and exchanging conversation as they walked. Apparently figuring he might as well add to it, Mavy started talking with Rye about girls past as I looked up at the stars, deciding I couldn't add much to the conversation. I just idly walked as the quarter-moon in the sky pleasantly tugged at my gut for a moment before I noticed Team Apex slowing down to walk opposite us.

"Hey, Rye, buddy! Landed an expedition, congrats!" May piped as Arden and Pike gave halfhearted agreements.

"Y-yeah! Uh, it's still really weird being here, y'know?" Rye said. May grinned and looked over at her Quilava... er, friend. Damn, this was gonna be awkward, wasn't it?

"What do you say, Ardie?" she asked. Arden snorted to himself.

"Really, now? Team scarves? What are you, hatchlings?" he asked. My face fell a little as Pike gave him a look.

"Don't mind him, kid, he's just salty is all. We tried 'em once and his vents burned his off," he told Rye. Arden responded with an annoyed spark from his back.

"Oh, ha ha. Let's all make fun of the guy with the disability, yeah," he said before shifting his gaze to me. "We'll be up front all day if you need anything, I guess. We got nothing better to do," he added, grinning at me. Pike only scoffed and flew into the air, leaving May to give Arden a quick smile before looking back at us.

"Yeah, you... uh, Zigzagoon?" she asked. Mavy snapped out of a daze as he fumbled for words, looking quite intimidated as he gave Arden a long look.

"Y-yeah, uh, Missus Leafeon?" he asked.

"You shouldn't run so fast this early on. Gotta preserve energy for what's coming, the sun hasn't even risen yet," May said. Mavy blinked before giving what I guessed was the quadruped equivalent to a shrug.

"Ah'll be fine. Whole life's been nothin' but a load o' work, I've done worse," he said.

* * *

"Sweet fuck... h-how do y'all do this every day again?"

"Shaagh," I groaned and tromped along as an exhausted Mavy panted, tied to my back to rest. Our caravan had been doing nothing but walking the whole day, and it had been quite the hassle when the Zigzagoon had given out. No one wanted to carry the talkative ball of fuzz anymore, so naturally it had been deemed best that we get the rope so I could carry him along. Normally, I'd have no qualms, but in this case...

"Ryyye..." I whined.

"I can't carry him, I've got the pack," Rye sighed, his tone begging me to put a sock in it. I mean, sure, I was starting to act like a little shit here, but I felt justified. I wasn't about to carry a thirty-pound pile of itchy fur and thick-accented complaining for an hour straight and take it without whining a bit.

We'd long since left the forests of the Serperior river valley, leaving only rolling hills and nothing to stop the afternoon sun from glaring down on us. We must've been at least halfway there, and despite the issues weighing down on my back, spirits seemed to be high. Merry conversation had been ringing from ahead the whole day, and the few times we'd managed to chat with Team Apex had been pleasant enough. What I'd appreciate now, though, was-

"We're stopping at this valley here. We've got enough sunlight left to look for firewood, let's not waste it out here," Delcatty called back.

...nice.

I immediately fell over onto the dirt path, my little legs screaming at me as Mavy squirmed on my back.

"Agh, Beck! At least untie me here!" he protested. Rolling onto my side, I instinctively reached for my scalchop before stopping myself. It wasn't fully grown by any stretch, but it was definitely big and sharp enough to use by now. I didn't think cutting the rope we'd bought was really a good idea, so I just laid there as Rye ran over to get the Zigzagoon off me. As I felt him peel off my back, I sat up to look over at everyone as they hurried about to set up camp.

"So, Rye? You willin' to use any of those weird plant powers to grow us some wood?" Mavy asked. Rye sighed.

"Th-that's not how it works," he said. "Uh, I'll try and get the tent set up, then we'll figure things out from there."

We all agreed, so I pushed myself up to follow my teammates into the roadside valley Delcatty had pointed out. Settling on a spot off to the side, Rye dug the mass of canvas and rods out of our pack, and as he got more and more parts out, the confusion on his face grew. Mavy and I were equally lost on how to set the tent up, so we only watched as Rye fruitlessly tried to put random metal rods together. Before we could agree to just sleep on the ground, a voice cut in.

"That's not how it goes, kid. The long ones are supposed to have their ends together like this," Arden said, walking over and bending down to help us out with the mishmash of pieces.

"Mr. Arden? Uh, wh-what're you doing?" Rye asked.

"May wanted me to help out, I guess," the Quilava shrugged as he worked on the tent's frame.

"Oh... er, thanks!" Rye said, watching him intently as he worked.

"Yeah, no prob. I'd get some sort of bed, too, sleeping on the ground isn't gets body heat down. I... damn it, tents are paw-friendly my ass! …urgh, just put it together like I was trying to do," he said, gesturing to the vaguely tent-shaped frame. "You need me, I'll be waiting for when they need a firestarter. Yeah, May and I'll be right here if you..."

Arden paused as he forced a horrid smile.

"...if you wanna _talk_ , Oshawott," he managed out through gritted teeth. Rye winced, confused by his former boss's behavior.

"Uh... wh-why Beck?" he asked.

"Who- oh, Beck. Right, that's his name. Uh, curious about what the impressed feral's gotta say, you know? Not every day you get to get a few words in with 'em," Arden reasoned before hurrying off before Rye could say anything else. The three of us exchanged glances, sufficiently put off as we started going at the tent again. Especially given what I'd seen a couple days back, I wasn't sure what to make of this. Was the guy okay? What had I done to him? Was my presence as a human really that unbearable to him?

As Rye muttered to himself in approval as he put the tent together, I could only hope I'd manage to find out some time.

* * *

The fire crackled before me as we all sat in the center of our campsite, contented with our legs not being jelly and the promise of food being front and center. While we waited for dinner, my teammates and I had decided to sit around the fire with the others. Of course, with that came some unwanted attention in the form of my apparent talents. As I finished plucking away what must have been my fifth crude song on my banjo, excited chatter and hoots came from the Pokémon watching.

"Make him do another one, Treecko!" the Gligar in the crowd shouted. Rye shifted in his seat as I groaned, slumping in place. Mavy, who we'd found quite helpful for having a spine, had left a few minutes prior to find himself some food, so we were basically defenseless here.

_'Just... alright, here's Wonderwall, I guess.'_

Before I could start another crude tune, a large fireball suddenly rose in the distance, followed by a loud boom. As I stumbled back, bright flames lit up the horizon, continuing for a good minute before a couple of horrible screeches met my ears, followed by silence. After a bit, Arden emerged from the grasses, dragging the bodies of two Furrets behind him. After he spit the fur out of his mouth, he offered the twenty-odd gathered Pokémon a hefty grin.

"Got dinner. Gonna work on these guys for a bit, then we can stuff our faces," he proclaimed. "Here, Oshawott, let me see that shell of yours."

I instinctively put a protective paw over my scalchop. I'd just regrown the thing, I wasn't about to risk losing it again. But... well, I mean, the worst that could happen was him dropping it. After all, what was he gonna do, shave the Furrets for easier roasting or something?

Sighing, I tossed my weapon over to Arden. He looked over it for a second, nodded, and then, without hesitation, stabbed the damn thing into one of the carcass' flesh and just started carving away.

I watched in horror as he used my dear, now-bloody scalchop to... actually, yeah, I think I'll just spare the details. All I'll say is that by the end of it, there was a pile of gore off to the side, a good few cuts of meat roasting over the fire, and a decently shaken Oshawott watching it all.

"Come on, 'mon, Oshawott was right there. Not the best time to clean a feral," the Luxio in the group pointed out as Arden spun the spits, sniffing at the meat.

"His doohickey was the closest sharp thing, had to cut these somehow. What, you think feral meat still makes him uncomfortable?" the Quilava rebutted.

"Come on, say you're sorry," May chided him. Arden kept cooking the meat for a minute before sighing.

"I'm sorry, Oshawott," he said.

"Eugh," I replied. Arden gave a gesture and a nod to the others as I grimaced at my disgusting scalchop on the ground. Before long, I grabbed a long stick from around the fire and pushed the shell among the hot coals, hoping fire would kill whatever infection was undoubtedly covering it now. I could hose it off later, I guessed.

While I pondered over that, Arden suddenly looked back towards the tall grass, keeping a wide-eyed gaze fixed on it before the scent of burning meat snapped him back. As he slid blackened Furret loins off the spit, he gave the grass another quick glance.

"Did anyone go out there while I was out?" he asked.

"Yeah. Uh, Zigzagoon and Roggenrola," May said. Arden blinked hard.

"Weird," he muttered before sniffing at the meat in his paw before holding it above his head. "So anyone want first dibs? I'm not Raticate by any stretch, but I'm sure May and Pike here can attest to my abilities!"

"It's decent enough," Pike said.

"See? Whole lotta practice goes into preparing meat, you see. Need to figure out all the right ways to cut, roast, the whole... uh..."

Arden trailed off as the grass to the side rustled before parting, revealing Mavy dragging a limp Sentret in his mouth. As we all watched, he got a look at the cooked Furret meat, sighed to himself annoyedly, and started tearing away at the Sentret's corpse.

"...what?" he asked once he noticed our stares, blood dripping down his maw.

"Small-towners, 'mon," Arden muttered, leaving the Zigzagoon to eat as he passed his overcooked meat out around the fire. Pulling my scalchop out of the hot coals, I hit it with a quick burst of water to cool it off. As it sizzled, Rye cleared his throat next to me.

"Uh, you want some? I'm not really a meat Pokémon," he said.

"Yeah, sure," I said, taking the piece of food he offered. "Maagh?"

"Ah'm good," Mavy said through a mouthful of flesh. Shrugging and averting my eyes from his grotesque meal, I sat back and took a bite out of mine as I watched sparks fly up towards the stars above. Despite everything, I had a good feeling about tomorrow.

...wow, this stuff was chewy, wasn't it?

* * *

Bassa Village had never thought it'd see the day the Societies would descend on their little town.

The human town they had settled over had long since been sand-blown and looted beyond any sort of value, and what little remained was of brief interest, then there had been nothing for a good couple of centuries. The temples of the north were of far more interest to the Societies, so the Pokémon of Bassa had concluded they were content to act as just a little landmark town and nothing more.

Then the sheriff and an explorer from down south had returned from a raid telling of an undiscovered ruin only a mile or two out.

Now where there had been desert and a relatively uninteresting structure was a sprawl of tents and eager explorers from across the continent running about to finalize their preparations. Although the sheriff's leg injury prevented her from overseeing the encampment, everything was going smoothly thus far. Looking over the team he'd handpicked for this endeavor, Guildmaster Haxorus nodded to himself. It seemed everything would be ready for his Guild's descent on schedule, so long as any other bureaucratic hassles did not arise. He had worked long and hard to convince the other explorers to hold off until his team had had their turn inside the ruin, and now he gave a satisfied smirk as he prepared to address his team.

Before he could, however, something caught his eye: a cloud of dust on the horizon growing bigger by the second. Haxorus narrowed his eyes as the newcomers revealed themselves as a pack of Mudsdale, carrying what must have been twenty Pokémon. The Guildmaster ground his tusks as several familiar faces revealed themselves through the dust: Delcatty, Quilava, Luxio...

Arcanine's Guild had arrived, by the looks of it. As if the day wasn't already frustrating enough.

"What are you doing here?" Haxorus rumbled. Taking notice of him, Delcatty grimaced a bit before straightening up.

"Just the same as you, I suppose. Vale Keep gave us first calling on the place, so we're here to act on that," she said. Haxorus huffed to himself.

"I believe we have first calling, not you," he said.

"On what grounds?" Delcatty asked.

"One of my explorers laid claim the day the ruin was revealed. You can set up your camp for your turn once we-" Haxorus began.

"And one of our explorers found the place. Arcanine talked with the 'mons on top, we've got-"

"Distortion with the dog! I've already come all the way from Ironside City, I am not just letting you take what is already ours!" Haxorus roared, quite miffed at being interrupted. As several explorers behind her cowered in fear of the imposing dragon, Delcatty sighed and put her bag on the sand, pulling out a slip of paper. Haxorus's demeanor faltered a bit; where had she gotten actual paper?

"I was afraid of that. This form officially recognizes this site as discovered by our Guild, and we thusly have first rights to it," she said. Haxorus eyed the form suspiciously for a moment, frustration growing as he did so. As his claws twitched, his tusks glowed with Dragon-type energy for a bit before he sighed.

"Fine, then," he simply spat. Gesturing to his dive team, he stomped back to his Guild's campsite. Of course it would be the dog again, he couldn't help but think. As he passed by Arcanine's chosen teams, he met eyes with what looked to be a rookie team, their Treecko leader shivering as he watched. Haxorus regarded the team for a second before huffing and tromping away.

"Now, then," Delcatty said. "We'll be setting up here, then we'll go in before sunset. You'll be responsible for your own care; if you don't show up in time then we'll leave you. Understood?"

"Yeah," Beck's voice joined in the chorus of affirmation.

Still nervous from the quick encounter with the rival Guildmaster, he hurried after the others as they flocked to a sufficient empty space. As Rye shivered and Mavy zigzagged along eagerly, the three members of Team Reach stopped to pull out their tent, looking over the pieces before them as the others set up camp around them.

Taking a moment to look at the somewhat excavated ruined building and the gaping hole in it, Beck bit his lip before turning to help Rye out. He figured he could worry about whatever was inside and whether it could provide some sort of help later, right now the issue lied in remembering Arden's assembly instructions.

He just hoped that would stay the biggest problem this trip had to offer.


	42. A Game Long Called

A deathly silence hung within the ancient tunnel below, one that was only broken as a dull thud sounded out from inside. Our rope went taut, and as the Hitmonchan in the group gave our end a tug to test the knot, we all stared down at the rope leading into the dark hole. As silence hung over the group, I took a moment to look around.

It was hard to believe it'd only been a week since I was last here, but alas, here I was. Where there'd just been rubble and sand when that Flygon had airlifted Sinni and I out, there was an excavated wreck of a ruin, no signs of a scuffle anywhere to be seen. Now as we stood in the eerily calm aftermath of my little misadventure, I hugged the rope and prepared to drop, having enough knowledge of what was down there to confidently go in first.

I shimmied down the rope as Rye quickly crawled in after me, climbing along the ceiling and down the curved wall with his weird Treecko fingers to join me at the tunnel's floor. The two of us took a long look at the round brick tunnel as the others slid down, whispering to each other in awe. The Flying-types on the surface, Pike among them, looked down at us before hopping away, clearly content to stay out of the underground as Arden knelt down to examine the floor.

"Look, these are rails. This was a subway, a subway tunnel," Arden whispered to May as she lifted herself and Mavy down with vines. As he pulled his thick, leather-bound _Book of Horrors_ out of his bag to scribble notes down inside, Delcatty eased her way down the rope, taking a couple looks back and forth before turning to address the expeditionary squad now cramped into the tunnel.

"Teams Ruby and Frontier, you head that way with Hitmonchan. I'll accompany Teams Apex, Joules, and Reach. Return here and call up to the 'mons on the surface if you finish before us," she said.

As our group gave a quiet murmur of agreement and dispersed, we walked away from the comforting sunset light and into the murky darkness ahead. As the darkness became thicker around us, Rye shivered at the lack of sunshine, then pulled an odd-looking metal thing and an orb from our bag. Before he could hold it out, he suddenly perked up and handed to me.

"Here, y-you can light it! Uh, just hold it up and say 'activate.' T-try it!" he said. I looked at him, then at the orb in my paws. Chewing my tongue, I gave it a shot.

"Sh-shak-ta-feh," I tried. Nothing happened, so I kept trying. "Shak-teh-fit. Shagh-da-fah. Shack-teh-fay."

"Come on, kid, this is just sad to watch. Just light it for him, 'mon," Arden quietly told Rye.

"Shak-teh-faah!" I yelled one last time. The orb continued to remain dormant in my paws, so Rye just quietly took it from me, looking quite guilty as someone snickered behind us.

"S-sorry," he whispered before holding the orb up. "Activate!"

The Luminous Orb lit up in the Treecko's hands, and as he turned to shine it in towards the others, he placed it in the metal frame I'd seen.

"Uh, so it won't blow up," he explained to me as Delcatty started leading us onward, holding what now looked very much like a lantern. Our footsteps echoed through the vast tunnel as we walked, looking around for any change in the scenery. After a few minutes, though, something painted on the brick wall caught my eye.

"Hey! Sha!" I called, pointing at the faded text. Arden took the lantern from Rye and peered up at it, leafing open his book as we all gathered around.

"Gazette Square station and Gear Terminal, that way. I think we're on the right track," he said before long. "Good call, Oshawott."

As we all murmured in excitement, he chuckled to himself. "Right track, heh."

"Wait, did... d-did you just read that?" Rye asked. Arden shrugged.

"Got translation in the book of horrors here," he reasoned. "Besides, you spend long enough looking over human shit, you start to get a feel for it."

"Over wut now?" Mavy butted in.

"Okay, shit was a poor choice of words. You know, stuff humans made, all that," he said.

"What's a hoo-mon?" Mavy asked. Every head in our party turned to look at the Zigzagoon, who stumbled back and quickly tried to justify himself. "O-okay, sorry I ain't as edu-ma-cated as y'all, but small town, y'know?"

Arden stared for a minute before exchanging a look with May.

"Right, so humans. They... uh, see, at some point they all decided they didn't like shitting in the grass and getting eaten alive, so they took a rock and hurled it at the nearest Pokémon. From there, they basically just took over the world. Those ruins up there, this tunnel here, basically the whole town to the west, that was them," he explained.

"They... why aren't they around, then?" Mavy asked.

"Fuck if I know. Probably pissed off one too many Legends," he said.

"Why would they do that?" Mavy inquired. Arden hesitated for a bit before he scoffed and continued.

"All they wanted to do in the end was stick it to each other. I mean, yeah, they were pretty smart and all. Look around you. But it was driven by... how do I explain? Er, I can sum up their whole shtick by saying they went 'oh yeah? Well, I win infinity plus one' over and over till they flew too close to the sun and fucked everything up. I say fff..."

He stopped himself and took a quick glance over at me.

"Uh... they weren't all bad, you know, but... ugh, y-you get it," he finished.

Mavy gave him a confused look, but apparently deciding he wasn't about to get anywhere with this, he kept zigzagging along silently as I gave the Quilava a look of disdain. I didn't know too much about my formerly fellow featherless bipeds but... wow.

_'I know you've got a lot going on right now, but you're not even gonna give us a chance? Okay. As representative of all humanity as far as I know, I dub thee an asshole.'_

As an awkward silence hung in the stale air, Rye looked up at the Quilava.

"S-so, uh, humans flew to the sun, too?" he asked.

"What? No, that was just an expression," Arden said.

"A... I don't get it," Rye said. Arden looked around for some sort of way to get out of the explanation to come.

"It's some old human story, i-it's boring," he said hurriedly. Rye kept watching him expectantly for a bit before he sighed. "Okay, so a really long time ago, there was this human Daedalus and his kid Icarus..."

Rounded tunnel, brick walls, a slight curve every now and then, the occasional collapsed bit of ceiling. That was pretty much all I saw over the course of the next half hour or so as we kept walking through the tunnel. Even given the history of the place, it was boring, so it wasn't long before the professional attitude in the air diminished. At present, Mavy was clicking his tongue idly as he zigzagged, Rye was several rounds deep into a game of fire-water-grass with Arden, and I was trying to kick a pebble along with my little feet. Easier said than done, it seemed. Losing another pebble to my apparent inability to kick very well, I sighed and squinted into the distance, biting my lip as I noted it seemed to stretch on forever.

"Fire-water-grass... heh, grass!" Rye said in front of me. Arden rolled his eyes.

"Alright, fine. Best out of eleven, then," he said.

The two pumped their fists again before Arden swore under his breath again, apparently having lost again.

"Fuck, thirteen, then," he said.

I sighed as the two went at it again.

"G-got water, I... uh, wh-what is that?" Rye asked. Arden looked down at the odd sign he'd given and smirked to himself.

"A gun," he said.

"A... what?" Rye asked.

"Gun beats everything," Arden added. Rye stumbled back, his face going a bit pale in the Luminous Orb's light.

"Wh-what? You can't do that!" he cried. "Wh-what even is a gun?!"

"I expect my reward to be paid out in doubloons," Arden said boldly, ignoring a glare from May. Before Rye could object any further, a dull thunk sounded out as he kicked something in the way. Looking down at the offending object, the Treecko yelped and stumbled back at the sight, landing in my paws as Arden looked at the sight with wide eyes, his swindling forgotten.

"Sweet fuck," he whispered.

Rye had kicked what looked to be a bone, human by the looks of it. And it wasn't the only one; before us laid hundreds of bones from dozens of skeletons. Some simply laid there, some clawed at the concrete walls, and one laid next to what seemed to be the remains of a Pokémon. We could only stare in horror for a moment before someone stepped forward to break the grim silence.

"This... d-don't touch them. Just keep going," Delcatty said shakily.

Silence hanging over our party for the first time in a while, we all nodded and continued on. As even Mavy stayed quiet to grimly regard the bones, I just stared at the skulls' faces frozen in time as I passed, my face as still as theirs. Why did I care? I didn't know any of these people, how could I? Something about this was just horrifying to me, though. My fellow humans dead in such a manner... I couldn't shake the guttural feeling this gave me. And what if I did know someone here? The skeleton half-buried in the floor frozen with its jaw hanging open, that could have been my brother for all I knew. What if my family really had been among the dead here? Just... this was too much for me.

As we slowly progressed, more and more skeletons revealed themselves, and as we moved further I found myself shaking involuntarily, my breath picking up as the bodies' hollow eye sockets seemed to stare into me. I probably would've started crying there had a hand not rested on my shoulder to pull me back to reality.

"Beck? I-it's alright, I-I'm here," Rye whispered. Flinching violently at his touch, I looked at him like I'd just awoken from a nightmare, then with another look around at the skeletons- no, the people around me, I huddled up next to him as we continued.

"Wh-wha hah-peh?" I eventually mustered up the courage to ask. Since it seemed Arden was occupied with looking at the dead, May looked back at me.

"It looks like they hunkered down in here, could've been the Ruin or something after, but... s-something happened by the looks of it," she said.

"Sam-thin? Wha?" I asked. My question was answered not very long afterwards as a sudden dead end ahead became visible in the orb-light. As the light shone onto it, a feral Cubone wearing one of the human skulls strewn about hissed at us before scampering up the large mass of concrete, rock, and twisted steel. Getting closer to it, I noted the thing appeared to have collapsed from the ceiling, and after a quick look between the blockage and the skeletons everywhere, I shuddered in morbid understanding as Delcatty peered up into the ceiling hole.

"That Cubone there had to have gone somewhere, and I doubt we're getting past this anytime soon. Come on," she said.

Rye, Mavy, and I all exchanged looks before heading over to the pile of rock. Rye was quick to stick to the side and climb up, stopping at the lowest ledge to pull the two of us up. This continued for a few minutes until we pulled ourselves up to collapse onto the dirt. It seemed the lack of sunlight was starting to affect Rye, though he pushed himself up to face the others, who'd managed to crawl out before us. With all of us up, we turned to examine the dark space we'd found ourselves in. Arden pursed his lips before sending a plume of fire up from the vents on his head, partially illuminating the cavernous space.

Around the gaping hole we'd just climbed out of, a vast expanse of dirt stretched out in all directions, only stopping as seats interrupted it and sloped up to the ruined walls. The superstructure encircling us seemed to be shut tight, though I could somewhat see the darkness through their long-closed windows. An eerie silence hung in the air and debris littered the area, but through it all, I recognized what this place must have been. This... how even...?

A groan rang out from behind me.

"No, no! This... this is a damn stadium! How're we supposed to find jack in a stadium? Great, the Guildmaster's gonna hang our tail ends on his mantel now..." Electrivire said. Delcatty gritted her teeth a bit, hanging her head.

"But it said it led to some sort of station... of course, it was blocked. We can't have been too far off, though," she muttered to herself before looking over at us. "Get your things ready, we'll be splitting off into individual teams once we can get into this place's guts."

As Team Joules mumbled unenthusiastically and started pulling equipment out, May and Arden took a long look around at their dimly lit surroundings.

"Damn... you think Pike would've come if he knew it would be this spacious?" May asked. Arden blinked as if coming out of a daze.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, probably," he said. The two took another glance around before setting their bag down to dig through, though they stopped as the three of us approached.

"D-do you know where we are, sir?" Rye asked. Arden paused for a few seconds before looking around again.

"Can't be sure, but judging by the location? Somewhere in Nimbasa City, I'm sure," he said. "Clearly it was pretty well-built, look at that roof cover. Must be ten feet of sand on top of the thing and it hasn't given in fuck knows how long."

"Hagh... h-how?" I asked.

"They probably battled Pokémon in here. Humans had to build things real sturdy to account for them," May shrugged. "So, you three doing alright so far?"

"Yeah, I... ugh, j-just need a bit," Rye said, taking a seat on the dirt. It looked like the effort of getting us all up here had drained him, and shining the lantern at the yellowing tips of his tail, I got the feeling he wasn't going to get better anytime soon. May seemed to take notice of this, so he pawed some sort of necklace off from around her neck, gesturing Rye to pick it up. Looking down at the pendant, an odd-looking rock, the Treecko hesitantly picked it up only to abruptly yelp and drop it. After shuddering a bit, he looked over himself, seemingly feeling better.

"Wh... what was that?" he asked.

"Sun Stone. Thing's packed with enough solar energy to evolve some Pokémon, it's good to have down here. Just try to let us know if you need another hit, alright?" May asked.

"Er, yes, ma'am. Thank you," Rye said. The Leafeon smiled and started for the end of the stadium's barren field, though stopped abruptly to look back. "You coming, Arden?"

The Quilava just stood there, repeatedly shifting his gaze between me and the hole behind us for a bit before straightening up.

"Just gimme a minute, alright?" he asked. May hesitated briefly before nodding, leaving the three of us alone with Arden. I instinctively backed away from him as he hung his head, looking somewhat reserved for once despite the flames erupting from his head and back. An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment before Mavy cleared his throat.

"So... uh, heard around that you were... well, that Cyndaquil. Y'know, from the war," he said. Arden snorted to himself.

"Yeah, that'd be me, I guess," he said. Mavy hesitated for a bit.

"...Pa told me stories 'bout y'all. I... er..."

"Stories, huh? Did he tell you about when the Resistance decided not to tell anyone that Tyranitar had dug up Kyurem?" Arden asked.

"Uh, no," Mavy said.

"Yep, figured. I'll catch you up later, we got things to do," he said, waving us along as May and Team Joules started on their way. As he walked alongside us on all fours, he looked over at me.

"So, kid. Uh... I'm sorry you had to see that back there. It's never pleasant finding a gravesite," he said solemnly. A chill ran down my spine at the reminder, and I gritted my teeth as we kept walking. Before long, Arden inched towards me.

"So, uh, Oshawott. Beck. Em... sure you've noticed I've been a bit worked up over the last moon. Well, see, the thing is... I..."

He paused, walking along silently for a bit before clearing his throat.

"I-I haven't been trying hard enough. Uh, just talk to me if you want any sort of help. I mean, you've gotten caught up in all this, so maybe I could try to help? I know, I'm Fire and you're Water, but I've got experience in this sort of field," he said. I raised an eyebrow, but gave a little smile nonetheless.

"Yessir, thanks," I said. I was glad to see the Quilava at least trying to open up after what I'd heard back at the river, but something still miffed me. Maybe it was the comments about humans, maybe it was just his overall attitude, I wasn't sure. As Arden gave a weak smirk, we suddenly stopped in our tracks. A concrete wall with a gate embedded into it loomed before us, and with no apparent way to get past this without scaling the wall, we took a moment to look over our surroundings.

 _Welcome to Big Stadium, home of the Nimbasa Bolts,_ the faded text on it read. I felt a little shiver go down my spine as we gathered around the old gate. A simple padlock hung from it, though a quick vine-yank from May disintegrated the rusted device and left the doors opening before us. Their hinges creaked for the first time in what must've been centuries as we gazed into the blackness, waiting for someone to speak up.

"Split off into teams. Try your best to make a record for the surveyors and ping us on your badges if you need assistance or find anything noteworthy. Report back here once you're through, I'll be waiting," Delcatty instructed.

Our party murmured among itself as it prepared to split off, the individual teams psyching themselves up in their own respective ways. Mavy hopped in place and quite audibly instructed himself to fuck something up, Luxio popped her neck before lighting up her fur, Arden repeatedly punched himself in the temples... wait, what was that last one?

_'Well, I mean, whatever you've gotta do.'_

"Alright, s-so, uh, all you gotta know is you tap your badge three times to ping everyone else," Rye instructed us. "N-not really practical, like, you have to get them out of the bag before... uh..."

His hand met the dirty bandanna around his neck.

"...huh. Uh, j-just pin them to your... uhm, things, I guess," he said, bending down to retrieve our badges from the bag.

"Toldja they'd be useful," Mavy sneered. Rye just gave an annoyed twitch of his tail as he stuck the badges on, occasionally looking over at the other teams. Team Joules was the first to venture forth, Luxio's glow briefly lighting up the darkness beyond the door before they vanished. Team Apex was quick to follow, with the two taking a last look around before slinking in. As Delcatty watched us, Rye gripped his lantern tight, uttered what I could only assume was a prayer, and led us into the inky darkness.

* * *

The still, dry air around us hung as we moved along the stadium's perimeter, our footsteps being the only sound echoing through the massive steel-and-concrete structure. Occasionally, we'd come across a mound of desert sand having poured in from outside, though they were of little interest to us as Rye muttered directions to himself.

"D-did we take a left, or...? No, no, we've been going straight the whole time, haven't we?" he pondered. Mavy rolled his eyes.

"You're doin' great, Rye," he muttered, peering into what looked to have been a concession stand. I just sighed as the two looked idly around. We'd been at this for fifteen minutes now, and nothing of note had come up. I'd come in wanting to find something, but all I had gotten from this was kinda depressed at the sorry state of what must've been a real sight to see back in the day. That combined with the skeletons back in the tunnel... yeah, I wasn't in the best of moods.

As we climbed over a fallen girder only to find the usual, being a couple more doors and some more sand, Mavy took a look at what the lantern illuminated.

"Did the hoo-mons make this, too?" he asked curiously as we leaned into one of the doors.

"Yeah," I groaned.

"What... kinda Pokémon were they? Like, ah'm seein metal a lot, were they Steel-types?" Mavy pondered. Rye and I exchanged a look.

"They, uh... weren't Pokémon," the Treecko eventually said. Mavy gave him a confused look.

"Scuse me? That don't make sense, what were they if they weren't Pokémon?" he asked.

"Uh... j-just humans, I guess. Like a Hitmonchan or Slaking but without a core," Rye tried.

"No core? How in distortion's that work?" Mavy demanded. Rye gave a frustrated sigh.

"Okay, I don't know how it worked, but... th-they were smart, I guess. Come on, th-the proof's right here!" he gestured around.

"Methinks yer just makin' this up. Like, really now, this is some real backasswards shit you're pushin' here," Mavy said.

"I-I know it sounds weird, but... did you say b-back... it's, uh, assbackwards," Rye said.

"Naw, I know what I said," Mavy said before looking back at me. "Can ya say backasswards, Beck?"

Rye grimaced. "M-Mavy, no-"

"Back-ash-wahds," I sighed. Mavy let out something between a laugh and a whoop as we moved along from the empty rooms, though it seemed Rye wasn't amused.

I just groaned and kept waddling as the two bickered on, though as the lantern swung in Rye's hand, something started nagging at me other than my depressive mood, something that felt like a full moon pulling at my core. Blinking confusedly, I looked up at an inconspicuous-looking wall, only... no, that wasn't a wall. What were those weird rectangles?

Looking around, it seemed we'd come across one of the larger doors to the stands, and just across from it was the aforementioned pair of rusted rectangles; doors, by the looks of it. They didn't have any handles, though, they looked more like... elevators? Whatever they were, a gut feeling itched at me to investigate.

"Ah don't reckon he'll care how I talk to him."

"He does!"

"How ya want me to talk to him, then?"

"I-I don't know, like you'd talk to your brother?"

"Ah, yeah, haven't told you 'bout that, eh? Yep, feral came right outta the Strait and snagged his egg. Lil' hard to talk with the 'mon, y'know?"

"Oh. I... I'm sorry."

"Eh, I hatched a week after. Don't really care."

"Well, that-"

"Hey," I butted in. The two stopped and looked as I headed over, tapping on the rusted metal door. Surely this had to lead somewhere? All we had to do was get this open. Unfortunately, it seemed it wasn't about to be that easy as I gave the door a hard tug.

"You think something's in here?" Rye asked me.

"Sign me the fuck up, sure sounds better than walkin' like this some more," Mavy said, stepping back and charging at the doors. With a dull ring, his Headbutt slammed into the rusted meral, though all it left was a sizable dent. He staggered in place a bit, but Pokémon were thankfully more resilient than that, so the Zigzagoon shook off what I was seriously concerned was a concussion there and scurried off, maybe to find something better to brute-force the door open with. With nothing better to do, Rye and I kept standing there, taking a look around at our surroundings.

"So... wh-what do you think of this place? You know, being a human?" Rye asked.

"Ugh," I responded. Rye gave a little nod.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't wanna," he said, taking a seat on a piece of rubble. Giving the rusted doors an experimental tap with my scalchop, I sighed and sat down to take it all in. Listening in, I could hear ferals scurrying along and another one of our teams shouting at each other in the distance, but nothing more. Looking over my shoulder, I gazed at... a mural? I couldn't tell, it had mostly fallen off the wall. I could make some out, though: text, a backdrop, the faces of this stadium's long-dead players, the Unovan flag proudly waving behind them...

…

"Rye?" I asked.

"Hm? Yeah?" Rye asked. I opened my mouth to ask him something, but I couldn't seem to scrounge up whatever it was; not just because I couldn't have asked given the language barrier, but because... what would I have asked him?

_'Why does the place itself feel like it died? Do you feel just alone in here, too? Have you ever looked at an old picture and realized everyone in it is dead?'_

I couldn't figure out how to describe this feeling, and the more I tried to rationalize it, the worse I felt. Rye wouldn't understand, no one could. Why was I only feeling this way now? I just-

"Ey!" Mavy's voice suddenly called from behind the doors. I flinched violently as Rye looked up in shock and confusion. "Found some kinda hole in the wall, y'all might could fit through."

Metallic scurrying started ringing from behind the wall, so Rye and I quickly pushed ourselves off the ground to chase after it. It wasn't long before the lantern's light shone on Mavy popping out of a vent in the wall, shaking a cloud of dust off himself as he grinned proudly.

"Just get on in there. Stay away from them sharp things on the sides there, they hurt like git out if they cutcha," he instructed before heading back in. Rye just stared at the small opening, his breath picking up.

"I-I can't, i-it's too small," he said.

"Come on, now, you can fit," Mavy said.

"I-I know, it's just... agh, I don't know, I-I can't," Rye groaned. Mavy stuck his head back out to complain, though his face suddenly fell before he could share his grievances.

"...this is 'bout Totodile, innit?" he asked. Rye hesitated for a while before shivering and nodding. Both of us just stared, unsure of what to do until I stepped forward.

"Maghee, camahn. Rye, shtay," I said. Mavy blinked, halting for a second to figure out whatever I'd said before giving an "ah, aight" and looping back into the vent. Biting my lip, I looked over at the anxious Rye, putting a comforting paw on his side and taking the lantern from him. After positioning it to shine into the vent, I sighed and dropped to the floor to crawl in.

Immediately regretting keeping my scalchop on my belly as it uncomfortably scraped against the metal of the vent, I crawled after Mavy through the tight space. With a sharp ninety-degree turn, my light was cut off, leaving me blind as I soon shimmied out into a larger room. I rolled onto my back to breathe in the stale air, though stopped as Mavy exclaimed.

"Whoa, careful. That's a long fall, wanna hold off on 'wott puree," he said worriedly. I gulped at this observation and started feeling around, only getting confusion from Mavy. "What, you blind now? Can't ya see?"

"Nah," I replied bluntly. "Is dahk."

A bit of awkward silence hung in the pitch blackness.

"Oh," Mavy said. "Guess you can't see in the dark? Or is that a Ziggy-only deal... aight, fine, hold up an' lemme try something. I swear if ya laugh..."

A moment passed before a dim, pink light suddenly cut through the darkness. Turning my head, I found the source: Mavy making the most exaggerated Lillipup-eyes I could've imagined, said eyes glowing pink to top it off. I stared for a moment before I just busted out laughing at the ridiculous sight, much to the Zigzagoon's annoyance.

"Oh, shut it. You try a Baby-Doll Eyes and not look stupid," he muttered.

Regardless of what Mavy thought, I needed that little lift of spirits. Managing to compose myself, I caught my breath and took a look around. It seemed we'd found ourselves in the elevator's shaft, sitting on some sort of maintenance platform overlooking a twenty-foot drop, at the bottom of which laid what little remained of the cab.

"What in distortion is this?" Mavy whispered, peering down the shaft as he tried expressing his confusion through his Lillipup-eyes.

"Nah, Maghee! Wehr dehr?" I urged.

"Wut? Where there?" Mavy asked.

"Dahr!" I tried again.

"Ah, door, right," he said, turning his ridiculous gaze towards the set of doors. Cautiously making my way over, I shimmied onto the little ledge underneath them and gave them a knock, to which the sound of footfalls quickly responded.

"Beck?" Rye's voice asked.

"Hey. Uh... shaagh," I said, tapping on the door again.

"Alright, uh... g-got any ideas?" Rye asked.

"Ahrb?" I suggested. There was a Luminous Orb in the lantern, and the things could explode, right?

"Arb? Wh... o-orb, you mean the lantern?" Rye asked. I knocked on the door again and made a _boom_ sound to get my idea across, though I was quickly met with vehement rejection.

"No. Nononono, th-that's a bad idea. We need a light, and, uh, if we blow it up we're gonna get buried," Rye said. I nodded to myself, tapping against the rusted metal as I tried to think of another plan.

_'Maybe I could try and saw through with my scalchop? ...no, what do you think this is, Bugs Bunnelby? You can't just saw through steel. Uh, I could have Mavy headbutt it a couple more times? No, who knows how much that'd do to him... I could try and Water Gun it? Ugh, it's not powerful enough, you couldn't... or... could you?'_

My ears stuck up as I remembered my lessons with Bert, specifically his introducing me to altering my Water Gun. He'd left a dent in stone with one... it was worth a shot.

I took a breath and let energy flow up into a point in my throat, then let loose, trying my best to not launch myself back and down the shaft behind me. As Mavy watched, I inched away from the initial point, seeing I'd left a hole. Giving a mental thanks to whatever dictated the metal's rusting, I kept cutting, soon making a rough square I hoped Rye would fit through. After a few minutes, I exhaustedly made my way back to the platform, plopping down as I panted.

"...R-Rye, pahnd," I managed out.

"P-Pound..." he parroted. A minute's hesitation passed before a loud clang rang out and the cut section disintegrated, raining down into the shaft as light poured in. Before long, Rye squirmed his way through the opening with bag and lantern in hand, first catching sight of us then the long drop below him.

"Ah! Okay, okay, uh..." he muttered. Putting his hands on the wall, he made his way out of my rough opening and crawled along the wall towards us, carefully setting himself down before checking up on us. "Y-you two alright?"

"Wahter," I croaked. As Rye nodded and quickly dug for our canteen, Mavy took another look down the shaft.

"Y'all got the rope, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I-I'll get to it once Beck's done here," Rye said, gesturing to me as I chugged down our water greedily. As I set the now-empty canteen down and let out a relieved gasp to catch my breath, Mavy gave a grimace.

"Water-types," he muttered.

A few minutes went by before Rye unceremoniously threw a length of rope down to the bottom, tugging at the knot he'd tide to hold it before gesturing us on. Mavy and I hugged the rope and let ourselves slide down as the Treecko climbed down the wall after us, and as I adjusted our bag at the bottom, I got a good look around. Apart from the piles of sand framing the scenery, I immediately noticed a few things: first, we looked to be in a subterranean level judging by the pillars I was seeing. They said the stadium was buried in sand, though, so technically... yeah, anyways.

Second, I couldn't help but note the numerous piles of rusted metal strewn about in an orderly grid, some of which had managed to hold together an eerily familiar shape. I couldn't be sure, but I was decently sure I was looking at an array of... cars?

Indeed, as Rye and Mavy warily looked over what I guessed was the stadium's car park, I could pick out a good few mounds of metal that my mind insisted were the remains of ancient automobiles. I just stared blankly at the sight.

_'...talk about random. Why're we even down here in the first place?'_

I frankly had no clue why my gut had led me here, though I could still feel something tugging at my core and seemingly trying to lead me further in. I couldn't shake the feeling that something or someone was trying to show me the way here, so resigning myself to the waste of time we were surely about to embark on, I waved for Rye and Mavy to follow me. We all looked around at the strange sight as Rye shined the light around at the rusted husks.

"Wut're these?" Mavy asked.

"I-I don't know. Whatever they are, they're old," Rye shrugged. Mavy snorted.

"No shit, Detective Pikachu. Gotta say, ah'm impressed the things held together. Fuck knows how old they are," he said.

"Don't know. At least a thousand years, I think," Rye said. Mavy hummed to himself as he got a good look at the remains of a minivan.

"Well, dayum! Pa always said you could preserve something like a body real well out here in the desert, but... whew! Wonder how much longer they'll hold?" he pondered, giving the van an experimental smack with his tail. A horrid chorus of creaks and groans sounded out as the car promptly collapsed in on itself, leaving a cloud of dust, metal shavings, and a spooked Mavy staring at the artifact he'd just destroyed. "...right, so new plan, don't touch the things."

"Yeah, gaht it," I muttered. Rye gave a frustrated sigh before straightening up, gesturing the lantern in his hand towards the massive room's interior.

"Uh, raccoons like Sentrets and Zigzagoons can see in the dark, right? C-could you split off and look for things? It'd make things a lot quicker," he requested. Mavy furrowed his brow before nodding and zigzagging off into the dark, leaving Rye and I to start checking the ancient cars for anything of note.

I couldn't help but notice a routine forming over the next little while: we peeked into a car, found that most of its contents had either disintegrated or become useless crap over the centuries, and moved on, occasionally getting startled by Mavy's skittering in the distance. Sedans, sports cars, vans, and even what looked like a humvee were scoured, only producing more of the same. After a while, though, something changed.

_'Oh. Another plastic bottle down here. Joy. How does plastic even last that long? Uh, anyways, lookit. Another van... huh, the tugging's stronger. Maybe...?'_

"H-hey, there's writing on this one. Uh, can you make it out, Beck?" Rye asked, pointing to the side of the rather well-preserved van. I nodded, peering up at it.

 _Juniper Enterprises_ , it read. I gave a curious hum as we climbed in, shining the lantern around to investigate this discovery. It seemed about the same as any of the other vans we'd pilfered through in the past little while, save for a couple anomalies on the side.

"Hey... a-are these, like, compartments?" Rye asked. As he got up close, his eyes widened as he found one of them still closed tight. "Hm, maybe-"

"Wait, wait," I said, pushing past Rye to put a paw on one of the little doors. With that, the tugging in my gut ceased, and my ears sticking up in response seemed to get it across to Rye that we'd found something.

"Y-you think something's in there? Let's open it!" he said before excitedly pulling at the little door, though the thing didn't budge. He bit his lip, muttering a bit before suddenly perking up.

"Here, let me just-" he said, fumbling around his neck at his bandanna. As his fingers met his badge, he gave it three quick taps and whispered something into it, causing it to let out a quick hum. "Okay, uh, now we just wait."

Despite our excitement at the apparent discovery, we seemed to be in agreement as to how to pass the time: slumping against the sides of the van, quietly waiting before the scraping of claws suddenly met our ears.

"Hey, what was that all 'bout? Ah was just pokin' 'round and suddenly I just got this... iunno, headache message thing and got pointed here. D'y'all find something?" Mavy asked as he came in.

"Yeah, I think it's something good," Rye smiled, glancing over at me. Mavy gave a proud grin as he curled up next to Rye.

"Well, ah'm takin' a third of the proceeds, then. I was a participant on the team, don't gimme that 'you weren't there' spiel," he said. "And, y'know, the hole in the wall that got us here. Now whaddaya saaaay?"

We both sighed.

"Th-thanks, Mavy," Rye mumbled.

"Yeah, tanks," I said.

* * *

May winced as a sudden mild headache shot through her skull, followed by a few easily digestible bits of info. A ping had just gone out from one of the teams in the stadium with them. The Leafeon blinked as she mulled over the brief message.

_Team Reach here. Something found, locked. Down metal doors and inside big automatron. Need help retrieving._

May gave a quick relieved sigh, giving a smile to herself as she hopped up from her fruitless studying. Bounding out from the old stands she'd been exploring, she went out into the stadium's ancient seats to retrieve her partner. As expected, Arden had not moved since he'd elected to take a breather and survey the area, and his vacant gaze remained cast at the long-dead field as May trotted down the steps to meet him. Looking down at the charcoal sketch of the stadium he'd drawn in his notebook, she gave the Quilava a quick nudge.

"Ping went out. Rye's team found-" she began.

"I heard it," Arden said. May waited for him to budge for a moment before pursing her lips.

"Need more time to take it in?" she asked.

"Nah, think I'm done," Arden said, pushing himself up to lead the way. "So lockpicking. Shouldn't be too big of an issue for you, huh? Just... the kid said the thing was inside a what now?"

"An automatron, he said," May relayed. Arden smirked to himself.

"Ah, yes. The dreaded automatron. I've told him it's 'automobile' fuck knows how many times," he mused as he and May headed down the stairs back into the stadium's insides.

"I mean, you could've just said car," the Leafeon shrugged.

"Y-yeah, but it just sounds weird. You know, _car. Caaaar._ I don't know, it just sounds unprofessional," Arden reasoned.

"Carriage, maybe," May suggested.

"Oh, feeling posh today, are we? What are ya, a bloody Darkie?" Arden said, adopting an exaggerated accent.

"You know if anyone actually from the Dark Isles heard that, they would've given you a black eye by now."

"Well, oi'd wallop their arses first an' chase 'em oll the way back tah Spitfireshire, 'ave a pint whole oi'm at it!"

"Oh, Xerneas, that doesn't even sound Darkie anymore. Sounds like you're from a different planet entirely."

"Bollocks."

"Alright, that's enough."

The two continued their banter for a little while before the badge's ping finally led them to the aforementioned set of metal doors, where Team Joules was already waiting for the pair. Arden briefly took note of the hole already cut in the doors before concluding that it was a bit too Treecko-sized for his liking.

"Alright, Electabuzz, help me pry this thing open. On my mark," he commanded. As Luxio and May watched, their partners grabbed a hold of the door and began to pull hard, slowly parting the rusted doors to reveal the elevator shaft and the rope Team Reach had left dangling inside. Arden bent down and momentarily peered down at the long foreboding drop before gesturing grandiosely to the others.

"Anyone volunteer to go into the spooky butthole of death first?" he asked.

* * *

As the quiet muttering of the others backed us, the ancient lock clicked up a storm, clearly not content to cooperate with May as she kept trying to pick it with a vine. Rye and I exchanged a glance as she quietly muttered undesirables to herself, though a sudden _clunk_ rang out, spelling out her success. Rye, Mavy, and I quickly ran over to throw open the mystery door as possibilities raced through my head. Maybe the missing Lustrous Orb was in here? Maybe some recording telling me why I was here? Maybe even some sort of feral translator? My eyes sparkling, I bunched in between my partners' heads to behold the compartment's contents: a sack full of...

…

Paper?

Oh, for-

"Wait, l-look. There's lines on this... i-it's a picture of some kind!" Rye observed, pushing Mavy and I aside so May and Arden could get a look. The two studied what they could for a moment before nodding to themselves.

"We're taking this back to Delcatty. This could be something after all," Arden decided, opening his pack to delicately slide the ancient bag in. Gently closing it, he waved us on and started for the rope, though Luxio and Electabuzz just stood there to watch us go.

"Don't know about you, but we're staying to explore. Are you seeing all this? Too much to not look into," Luxio yelled after us.

"Alright, go ahead and do whatever," Arden called back, arriving at our rope. Gripping it between his paws, he began shimmying up, glaring at Rye as he started climbing up the wall. Seemingly determined not to get beat to the top by the Treecko, he picked up the pace, frantically climbing as Mavy, May, and I looked on.

"He always like this?" Mavy asked as Arden frustratedly swore, having lost the impromptu race.

"Zigzagoon, you have no idea," May said.

* * *

"...oh, Arceus. Tyson, come look at this," Delcatty said. The Hitmonchan hobbled over, yawning as morning light pilfered into their tent.

"What've you got?" he asked, looking down at the fragmented paper delicately spread out on the table before them.

"I just finished translating the find. It's a map for sure," Delcatty said. Tyson's eyes narrowed as he skimmed over the human Fletchling-scratch.

"...what's it showing, then?" he asked. Delcatty hesitated.

"You won't believe me," she said.

"Bite me," Tyson responded. Delcatty stood there, reading her notes one last time as if to confirm her own words before giving a disbelieving chuckle.

"I'm pretty sure we just found a map through the Caves of Being."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooo. Wonder if that's gonna be important.
> 
> Sorry for the wait, exams came up and I ended up realizing I didn't have very much substance for this chapter planned. Weird considering I've had this chapter planned from the beginning, but I'm a bit more concerned that this three-week gap is the longest I've gone without updating Quenched Torch.
> 
> Only three weeks.
> 
> Damn, I need a life.
> 
> Anyways, rate and review, so on and so forth, and I'll see you hopefully not in three weeks again.


	43. Cursed With Knowledge

Despite how much I'd like to say I came out of that subway tunnel confident and celebrating, I'll go ahead and admit it. I had no idea what was happening anymore.

From the moment Rye pulled me up out of that hole and into the desert moonlight, an air of tension had hung over our party, especially as Delcatty had taken our find from us. As they studied the bundle of paper, we'd tried to ignore it and turn in to make up for the night down in the ruins, but I'd found myself unable to sleep. Quite a bit nagged at me as I stared at the backs of my eyelids, watching as the light shining through them gradually grew brighter. The skeletons, the stadium, the rusted cars, and just about everything else I'd seen down there still weighed down on me, though my biggest question pertained to how I'd even found those papers in the first place.

What was that tugging? No, who was it? Was it the Voice again? For Arceus' sake, why couldn't it just leave me alone for once?

Ugh.

One thing I did notice as I laid there, though, was how the voices outside suddenly seemed to get far more excited as the sun came up. At present, I could hear Hitmonchan eagerly reentering the Guild's little camp as he spoke to someone unseen.

"No, no, it has to be a Psychic," I made out from the voice. "...yeah, a map... we need to reach our Guildmaster as soon as possible."

My ears stuck up as I pried open my eyes. Was that our papers he was talking about? I hesitated for a moment before silently pushing myself up and off the seedy cushion I'd been using for a bed. Tiptoeing to the door, I glanced back at my partners to make sure I hadn't woken them. Thankfully, Rye was still splayed out twitching his tail and Mavy still laid curled up, a stupid grin on his face as he dreamed of Darkrai knows what. With a quiet sigh of relief, I slunk out into the chilly desert morning.

It took a moment to gain my bearings among the sea of other Guilds' tents around me, but I soon picked out the biggest of ours and waddled over, being careful to not trip any explorers here going about their morning routines. Giving a quick look around, I gingerly opened the tent's curtain a crack to look inside. Inside, I found Delcatty and Hitmonchan standing around a Beeheeyem as it floated there, its digits floating rapidly. I couldn't tell quite what was going on, but kept watching as Delcatty continued.

"Yes, Guildmaster Arcanine, I understand this is very exciting, but please calm down for a bit. What action should we take?" she asked the air in front of her. A moment of silence passed before she continued. "Yes, sir, we'll be quick about it. Rest assured, we'll keep the artifact safe. You don't just find a map through... that and not do that. ...yes, sir, I'll pass that on to Haxorus. ...you, too."

With that, the Beeheeyem's lights went out as Delcatty sighed.

"That should be everything, Beeheeyem, thank you. You wanna stay for a quick drink?" she asked.

The Beeheeyem responded with a quick flash of one of its lights and a short beep, which apparently meant yes since Delcatty turned to fish something out of her bag, leaving me to try and consider what I'd just snooped in on. Before I could get very far, though, Beeheeyem snapped its large head towards me, apparently having sensed my presence. It immediately pointed at me with the flashing lights on its hands as it let out a series of frantic beeps like some sort of weird Morse code, and as I stumbled back, the tent's curtain doors flew open to reveal a panicked Delcatty and Hitmonchan. Their appendages glowed faintly in preparation for an attack, but the two settled down as they caught sight of me on the ground.

"Oh, it's just you," Delcatty sighed in relief, looking back at Beheeyem as it hovered behind them. "Don't worry, just an apprentice of ours. Uh, just go back to your tent, Oshawott. It's not polite for civilized to eavesdrop, alright? We'll explain everything later."

"Y-yes, mahm," I said. Although miffed at her condescending comment, I got up off the cool sand and made my way back to my tent as Beeheeyem started making questioning beeps behind me.

Quietly slipping in and making sure Rye and Mavy were still asleep, I sat down on my cot, sighing as I considered what I'd just snooped in on. It was just one side of the conversation, and a pretty straightforward side at that, so I didn't have much to really dissect there.

Well, save for one thing.

_'A map through 'that,' she said. What's 'that' supposed to be?'_

Before long, the sunlight shining through the doorway met Rye's scales, causing the Treecko to groan and sit up, rubbing his head.

"...urgh," he simply said.

"Yeah," I agreed. Rye blinked back the bloodshot in his yellow eyes.

"Rough night too?" he asked. I gave a nod as Mavy groaned behind Rye.

"Y'all shut it. Need sleep," he protested. Rye gave him a nudge, causing the Zigzagoon to peel himself off his bed. "Aight, fine, fine, ah'm up. What do you want?"

"W-well, uh, we wait till we hear news," Rye shrugged. "Y-you... you wanna talk till then? Like, we never got a chance to really talk about everything."

"Yeah," I said. Mavy sighed from his curled-up position.

"Sure, fine," he said.

And so it was; for the next little while we just sat on our makeshift cots and discussed our dive. At least, Rye and Mavy talked while I tried to give my occasional input. From the place's history to what we'd managed to do together, we just had a nice time to let off steam and assess everything we'd seen.

"...I-I don't know, I never thought I'd ever actually discover something, you know? Like, even if I somehow landed on a team, I probably wasn't gonna get sent to a place like this. But... I don't know, i-it's weird just sitting here, saying I... w-we've done it," Rye mused.

"Heck, Pa always told me he'd help me find something one day, didn't think I'd be the one doin' the findin'," Mavy said, tiredly grinning to himself. "Shit, just wait till he hears 'bout this. Might could take you to meet him once he gets home, ah reckon he'd like y'all."

"Yeah, shaagh," I added.

"That all you gon do? You just gonna agree with us? Come on, Scruffy ol' pal, give us something other than 'sha sha.' Like... ah dunno..." Mavy pondered. He considered for a moment, stifling a yawn before he suddenly perked up. "Oh, how'd ya know to go down there in the first place? We'd've just given up at them doors if you didn't insist there was something there, what was that all 'bout? Some sixth sense only ferals got?"

Rye gave him a stern look, but nodded as he thought it over. "Y-yeah, that is kinda weird. How _did_ you know, Beck?"

I sat there for a bit, gulping as the two's eyes rested on me.

"Uh... t-tah-ging," I said.

"Tagging?" Rye asked. I shook my head and made a tugging motion, which thankfully got the message across. "T-tugging! Uh, there was, like, a tugging?"

"Yeah," I said, pointing at my gut. Rye hung his head as he thought this over.

"D-do you know what it was?" he asked.

"Nah," I said, prompting more thinking on Rye's end. After a minute, he gave Mavy a sideways glance and leaned in towards me.

"I think you should go to Mr. Arcanine, maybe he'll know something. Uh, maybe this was whatever gave you those visions? It could be important," he whispered.

I nodded in agreement, so we pulled out of our little huddle to face a suspicious look from Mavy. The Zigzagoon didn't say anything, only rolling his eyes after a minute, so we returned to trying to make conversation. We'd just gotten to the little things we'd come across in the old car park when our tent's door suddenly flew open, revealing Hitmonchan looking us over.

"Team Reach. Start packing, we're starting back to Impetus Town by midmorning," he said. Rye sat up, clearly just as confused as I was.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"We can't disclose that right now," Hitmonchan simply said before moving on from our tent. The three of us stared after him for a second before exchanging a glance. A silent agreement was reached as Mavy stretched and finally hopped out of bed, watching while we started gathering our things.

The sun was glaring down full force on our camp by the time Rye finally stuffed the tent into our bag. As he led Mavy and I panting towards our gathered guildmates, I couldn't help but envy his coldbloodedness in the heat, though it seemed we wouldn't have to wait for very long as Delcatty and Hitmonchan stood to address us.

"Everyone here today did excellent in last night's dive, but we must go now. Sorry, Teams Ruby and Frontier, but the stadium will have to wait for another time. We'll debrief you once we're on the road," Hitmonchan announced.

A murmur arose among the group as we followed the two to the waiting herd of Mudsdale that'd brought us here only yesterday, and once we'd thrown our bags onto their backs and hoisted ourselves up, I held on as best I could as the herd set off. With sand being kicked up around me as the Mudsdale began galloping faster and faster, I squinted over towards Rye and Mavy as they settled in for a long trip out of the desert. As I too shifted in my seat, I finally took the time to really consider everything: that Haxorus, the bones, the stadium, everything it implied, the papers, and... whatever "that" was.

I had a lot I'd have to consider on the road, I was sure.

* * *

The wooden box was decently small, no bigger than my head. It was unimpressive at best, being a splintery mess with only a simple lock to clue at its contents. Not a word had been said about it, but I was certain we all knew what was inside. The flimsy bag and its several pieces of folded-up paper had disappeared after we'd surfaced, and judging by how Delcatty and Hitmonchan refused to let the box they carried out of their sight, even after we'd stopped for the night... yeah, bit of a no-brainer.

As I watched the sun dip below the treeline, the others ambled around me, setting up camp in the rolling valley we'd settled in. Still aching from the rough Mudsdale ride through the desert and our hours of walking afterwards, it was a relief to finally rest, even if Mavy kept heckling me for not helping out. However, getting to sit gave me time to understand something: I wasn't happy.

I mean, yeah, we'd just explored an old ruin, we'd succeeded as a team, and we'd apparently made a decent discovery, so why wasn't I happy? No matter how I looked at it, the sad just wouldn't go away. I didn't know, maybe-

The crunch of reeds and sticks startled me out of my thoughts, and as I looked up to check what had happened, Arden gave me a look over the fire he was building.

"You busy?" he asked.

"Wha? N-no," I said. Arden gave a sigh in response.

"Metaphorically, I mean. You've just been sitting here staring into space since-" he started.

"Agh, am fine," I snapped, to which Arden raised his paws defensively.

"Alright, sorry. Just asking," he said, turning and running back into the brush to look for more firewood. With that out of the way, I bit my lip and pushed myself up, waddling over to Rye as he and Mavy tried to pitch our tent. Despite how I was feeling, I quietly resigned myself to trying to help out.

We fiddled with the tent and some other things for a while until darkness fell, after which the three of us headed to the fire. As we joined the twenty or so Pokémon there, I tried to join Rye and Mavy in sliding into the excited chatter, though I didn't get far before the campsite fell quiet and turned its attention to Delcatty and Hitmonchan as they arrived. The former cleared her throat.

"Everyone. I'm sure you've all been carrying some questions with you since we set out from the site, and I think this is a good place to answer them," she said. "In summary, during the dive in the stadium, Team Reach here discovered an artifact of interest to our Guild. The item in question, as I am sure you all know, is the remains of a fabric bag containing several pieces of paper. After extracting said paper, we were able to translate them and discern their contents."

She paused for effect, watching as Rye and I looked at each other eagerly.

"The artifacts in question were reassembled into a set of six maps dating back to the late first century before the Ruin. The most notable of these, however, was a complete map displaying the fabled Caverns of Being in detail. Furthermore, we believe that we may be able to use the information given to determine the Caverns' present location." she said. I heard quiet gasps and excited murmurs coming from many around me, Rye included, but I just cocked my head. The Caverns of what?

"We will be discussing our next course of action with the Guildmaster over the coming days. For now, though, we believe this expedition to be a success. Thank you all for your vigilance down there," Delcatty finished. Silence hung over the campsite for a minute before an Emolga climbed on top of Luxio's head.

"What is this, a funeral?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm with him. We found the fuckin' Caves! Let's get shitfaced!" Pike demanded, looking to Delcatty for approval. She gave him a flat look, and after exchanging a glance with Hitmonchan, rolled her eyes and quietly nodded her consent. Immediately, our squad ditched its professional demeanor as the explorers around us gave a mighty whoop and pumped their fists and paws in the air, jumped around, and pulled out canteens I got the feeling weren't filled with water.

"No. No, you all know you weren't allowed to bring... screw it, let me have a swig," Hitmonchan shrugged. As the explorers around me either went bottoms-up or began raucously singing to start out the celebration, I felt eyes rest on me. Rye gave an unsure look, clearly remembering the tug in my gut I'd told him about, while I noticed Arden staring at me from across the fire as Pike nudged him.

"C'mon, Arden! Lighten up, 'ave a drink!" he encouraged the Quilava. When Arden didn't answer, Pike followed his line of sight towards me and just barely repressed a grimace. "The feral botherin' ya?"

"Huh? No, no, I can't drink, remember? I'm a Fire-type, you know, alcohol doesn't exactly mix well. Uh, you all have fun, I'm gonna go hunt," Arden said, abruptly getting up and heading into the brush. Pike concernedly watched him go for a minute before shifting his wings.

"You do you, bud," he called before turning back to the celebration and accepting a drink from May. The three of us just kept sitting there for a bit, soaking the festive air in for a moment before Mavy looked up at us.

"What're the Caves o' Bein'?" he asked. Rye hesitated for a moment before muttering something involving his being a stupid idiot to himself.

"S-sorry, I should've figured you two wouldn't know. Uh, the legend goes that they're these caves somewhere in the Gray Continent that connect to Sun Minor," he said.

"Sun Minor? Ain't that on the other side of the world? How's a cave 'bout to go there?" Mavy asked.

"No one knows for sure, but... I-I can't believe we actually... I need a bit," Rye responded, staring into the fire. As I joined him in staring, I considered this bit of trivia. A connection to Sun Minor... from everything I'd gathered, especially the mentions of the Coronets, I got the feeling I knew what that place was.

The idea that something would want me to find a cave leading to Sinnoh, of all places, especially considering the Legendary presence there...

_'…there it is again. A nice little reminder.'_

I shook my head a bit to try and get that out of my mind, then turned my attention back towards the party. The three of us just awkwardly sat there as excited chatter, singing, and chugging rang out around us, though we only had to watch for a minute before Luxio suddenly stumbled over towards us and took a seat next to us.

"H-hey, Treecko," she slurred. "Why don'tcha get Oshawott there to play something on the thing?"

Rye and I exchanged a glance as the others started chanting to encourage me on, so I sighed and reached behind me, fishing my banjo from our bag, much to their delight. I'd initially worried about leaving it in our tent during our trip into the stadium, but it seemed nothing had happened to it. With that in mind, I positioned the instrument over my little legs, and after a minute's hesitation, started plucking away at random. This was routine at this point, as I found that my lost muscle memory was all too happy to resurface sometimes. All I really had to do was just strum away till I found myself playing something familiar and go from there.

Indeed, it wasn't long before I found a tune that struck a chord, no pun intended. As I went along with the sentimental tune I'd settled on, I frowned a bit as the music resonated in my mind. Echoes of a memory seemed to spark in response, taking the form of an aged voice encouraging me on. Something told me the tune was not made to be played on banjo, but my memory seemed to be managing just fine.

" _Good! Now onto the reprise!"_ the old man's voice echoed in my head. Hanging my head, I complied and started quietly humming along to the slow tune.

_'Home, home again... I like to be here when I can...'_

My frown only deepened as the lyrics involuntarily cropped up.

_'When I come home cold and tired... it's good to warm my bones beside the fire...'_

My breath became shaky as I kept crudely playing.

_'Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell calls the faithful to their knees... to hear the softly spoken magic spell...'_

I let the banjo fall to the ground and wilted as the others cheered around me. Bright grins, pats on my back, and praises and requests met me, but I didn't pay any heed. I just stared at my instrument on the ground, not even daring to move as the pit in my stomach grew deeper and deeper.

"...hey, th-that was good. We liked it! You're... B-Beck?"

I caught a glimpse of Rye's face as I pushed past the confused explorers gathered around me, trudging out of the camp. As I approached the grass, I stepped around Arden as he stared at me with a carcass in his mouth, apparently having been doing so for some time. Looking back at him, I could've sworn I saw sympathy in his eyes before he started back to the fire. I didn't care, though, I had other things to contemplate as I sat down with my back to a tent.

The song's painfully ironic lyrics aside, the thought I put into it was not happy. I didn't know where it'd come from, but... here I was, probably the last person alive that knew it existed. Everyone else from that old man to the songwriters themselves? Dead and forgotten for centuries, just like everyone else I'd known.

I'd been carrying this for over a month now, but now it was hitting me like a raging Tauros. Everyone I'd known was dead. I had to stare the bodies left behind in the face, both metaphorically and literally. I couldn't talk with anyone about it, and even if I could there was barely everyone who'd understand. To top it all off, I was little more than just 'the feral' to my peers, even if they tolerated me by now.

I as a human was completely and utterly alone in this world.

...it hurt.

Once the first tear fell, I couldn't stop myself. With little else to do, I just crumpled in place and started quietly weeping, mourning for everything I'd lost. My family, my friends, my world, my speech, my humanity...

I didn't stop for a solid few minutes, only hugging my tail tight as I cried. After a while, it seemed I had no tears left to shed, so I propped myself up and blinked my undoubtedly bloodshot eyes to stare up at the stars. The oh-so-damn-familiar stars...

_Crunch!_

I heard a stick in the tall grass ahead break. I flinched violently and stuck up my ears as I peered ahead, listening for anything else.

"R-Rye?" I hoarsely called. All that responded was rustling that seemed to get farther and farther away until it disappeared among the chirping of Bug-types and the lively chatter behind me. I stared into the brush for another minute before sighing and pushing myself up. Whatever it was, I figured I must have scared it off. That in mind, I slowly dragged my tail back into camp, hanging my head as I looked up. Rye and Mavy sat there waiting, and at the sight of me, the Treecko got up and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I-it's okay. I'm here. I-it's gonna be okay," he quietly reassured me. I didn't respond, only nodding and wiping at my wet, snotty face. As we started back towards our tent, Mavy just gave a morose look, clearly unsure of what to make of this.

Staving off the other explorers' concerned looks, we filed into our tent and sat down, thankfully remaining silent until Rye shifted in place, reaching down for something.

"Y-you dropped this," he said, holding up my banjo. I stared at it for a minute before frowning and lying down in my bed, my back to him. I didn't want to think about it right now. I... just needed sleep was all.

_'Yeah... maybe I could just stay asleep, not have to worry about any of this...'_

* * *

_...oh, no._

_The dream again._

_He felt a pang of dread as it all materialized around him again._

_The screams. The booms in the distance. The sound of crumbling rubble._

_He tried to push himself up, only to be met with pain. His body was broken, pinned to the ground._

_With no way to move, he frantically looked around. Panicked faces swarmed past him, trying to find some sort of safe haven. It would be of little help, of course, but among the faces..._

" _Mom... Dad..."_

_Despite his pleas, the familiar figures disappeared into the chaos. Staring after them for a moment, he painfully put his head to the ground, clenching his eyes shut and trying to force himself out, to end this nightmare before-_

_Then the sirens began._

" _...no, no! J-just go!"_

" _Stop! Let me-"_

" _G-get as far away as you can!"_

" _I'm not leaving you!"_

" _I said go! I-I'll find a way!"_

" _..."_

_Alone._

_Wake up._

_It wouldn't be long now._

_WAKE UP._

_It was coming, and fast._

_WAKE UP, DAMN IT._

_His chest burned. His head throbbed as if trying to burst. It was all pain._

_WAKE UP!_

* * *

The moon shined through the crack in our tent's door as I stared at it, hoping to find some comfort in it. Despite the soothing tug in my core, though, my mind wouldn't stop racing. Rye and Mavy had long since gone to sleep and the celebration outside had ended a good while ago, but I hadn't been able to get any shut-eye since my meltdown. Unfortunately, that gave me plenty of time to wallow in my puddle of sad.

Most of what raced through my head as I stared at the moon was just more of the same, though among it were some new worries that'd cropped up.

_'I've only got two Pokémon that know I'm human: Rye and the Guildmaster. Rye probably won't be able to help much, but I don't want to barge into Arcanine's place just to say I'm upset._

_...damn it, what am I supposed to do here? Just wait for-'_

A sudden ruckus rang out from one of the tents, startling me out of my contemplation. Shuddering, I stole a brief glance out the door's crack before crawling out of my bed and peeking outside to investigate. For a moment, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but then flickering light suddenly shone from one of the tents as it opened up. I squinted curiously as the source revealed itself as Arden, his vents sparking and his face distant. He stepped out into the moonlight and sat on one of the empty seats around the dark fire, staring at the sky for a moment before his face twisted into one of anger. As his vents burst into flame, he got up and gave the ground a kick, though his quadrupedal stature apparently didn't like that, so he tumbled to the ground. With a groan of frustration, he made to push himself up, only to suddenly stop as his eyes met mine. I shrunk back into my tent, though a quick peek back out showed the damage had already been done. Before the Quilaba could push himself up to confront me, though, an anomaly in the background noise caught my attention.

My ears sticking up, I looked off to the side to try and see what it was. Was this the same thing I'd heard while I was out there? Clearly there was something there, as it seemed Arden noticed the noise too. The quiet rustling quickly gave way to hushed noises, almost like... whispering?

"Who's there?" Arden demanded. The noise stopped, only to start back up after a bit, inciting a look from the both of us as I stepped out. Whatever it was, I could say for sure now that at least some of the noise was a couple of voices frantically whispering to each other.

"We can hear you, assholes, come on out!" Arden said. There was silence for a bit before the grass started rustling again, the sources of the voices apparently moving away from us. Arden and I exchanged a glance as I drew my scalchop and joined him in cautiously watching the brush. We watched for a few minutes, though it seemed the noises had stopped. Despite this, Arden remained on guard as he stared backing towards Delcatty's tent.

"Kid, keep watching, I'm waking up the cat and getting the box safe. Yell at me if-"

A sudden bright flash burst from the grass, barely missing Arden and slamming into the top of Delcatty's tent. As the smell of ozone hung in the air, the Quilava stared at where the Charge Beam had struck before running into the damaged tent. Pulling myself out of the shock of the sudden attack, I ran back into my own tent, waving my arms frantically.

"Shaah! Shaah!" was all I could manage to say as Rye and Mavy woke up, though as I turned around to gesture at the damage out the door, the grass parted to reveal several Pokémon who immediately stopped to briefly assess the situation.

"Y'all hold 'em off, ah'll get the map!" a voice barked. At this point, most of the other explorers had awoken and figured out something was up, so the group of attackers quickly moved into position to attack as Arden bolted out of Delcatty's tent and joined his teammates, though their staggering indicated that the alcohol they'd consumed hadn't entirely left their systems. The Quilava's eye twitched.

"Fucking DAMMIT!" he roared, spinning around to unleash a cloud of flame at a couple of incoming attackers. As he charged to try and take on the onslaught himself, I snapped back to reality and gestured to my now very awake teammates.

"Camahn!" I ordered, wielding my scalchop and charging into the madness with Rye and Mavy in tow. No communication was needed, I just pointed at a Jolteon in the group and started swinging at it. The Electric-type seemed all too eager to shock the living daylights out of me, though a Pin Missile from Mavy got lodged deep into his chest before he could follow through. A Dragon Breath from Rye sent the Jolteon into retreat, allowing the three of us to get a good look at the chaos around us.

Although most of the squad was probably half-drunk, they still fought hard against the attackers. Arcs of electricity and flames rose above my head as I dragged my partners along, firing off a couple Water Guns while I was at it. It seemed not all was well, though, as I could make out a good few injured among our numbers, Luxio and an Aron among them. Grinding my teeth as I weaved between legs, I caught a brief glimpse of Arden in fierce combat with another Pokémon at the burning remains of Delcatty's tent, though I got a hard blow to the gut before I could make out any more.

Mavy and Rye quickly engaged with the Toxicroak as I tried to recover, barraging it with Pounds and Pin Missiles before I joined in with a Water Gun. The Toxicroak responded by spraying the three of us with a Venoshock, sending Rye onto the ground as I charged forward and slashed it with a couple of Razor Shells. Before our opponent could do anything else, Mavy gave a quick call.

"Watch out!" he yelled before jumping onto my head and springing off it. Flying through the air for a moment, he sailed through a Venoshock in his direction and slammed into the Toxicroak's head with a Headbutt, sending it to its knees for a precious bit and allowing me to hit it with a couple of Aqua Slaps, the first knocking it to the ground and the second slamming its head against the ground and knocking it out. As I panted for a second, taking in that victory, Mavy jumped for joy through what I could only imagine was a painful covering of Venoshock juice.

"WHOO! Who wants some?!" he cheered. He seemed all too ready to charge back into the chaos when, as I helped Rye onto his feet, the commotion suddenly died down.

"...hey! Dickheads! I've got your leader here! Try anything and I blow his fucking head off!" Arden roared. The fight around us seemed to have entirely stopped by now as the attackers stared in the direction of his voice, allowing me to lead Rye and Mavy through the crowd to try and see what was up.

"Who sent you?" Arden demanded.

"Let me go, you damn-" another voice answered.

"I said who sent you, you damn weasel?!" Arden yelled, the sound of his vents flaring up meeting my ears.

"Dammit, the Phoenixes!" the other voice managed out as I emerged at the front of the crowd, though my face quickly fell as Rye gave a quiet gasp. Standing atop the charred remains of a tent, a bruised Arden held the apparent leader of this group in a chokehold with his foreleg. But the leader...

_'...oh, no.'_

I turned my head just in time to see Mavy pop out of the crowd, only for him to stagger back as his confident face immediately morphed into one I never would've expected from the Zigzagoon: horror.

"P-Pa?" he choked out after a minute. The Linoone stopped struggling for a bit as his eyes widened.

"...Maverick? Is that..." he asked. Mavy's breath shook as Linoone remained still, then abruptly started struggling again, only for Arden to tighten his chokehold.

"I said hold still, you-!" he demanded, lighting his paw ablaze and raising it to strike.

"NO!" Mavy screamed.

Within what seemed like an instant, Arden was on the ground with a Pin Missile in his arm, Mavy was frozen in the attack position, and Linoone was running away as fast as he could.

"Team Horizon! Retreat and regroup!" he called. A Smokescreen suddenly filled the air as indistinct orders and footfalls started moving away from us. By the time Pike Whirlwinded the smoke away, the Phoenix attackers had all run into the brush, save for Linoone. With a final forlorn look at Mavy, he turned and ran to follow his team, finally leaving us with a moment of quiet.

The silence hung for a bit until the explorers around me started clamoring and running around. Some attended to the wounded, some assessed the damage, and others still looked to Delcatty and Hitmonchan for something, anything. The two exchanged a glance, prompting Hitmonchan to silently take a box out from under his arm- _the_ box. A collective sigh of relief seemed to echo through our ruined camp, but on that note, the roar of raging flames abruptly cut into the peaceful ambience.

"We had them! We fucking had them! What the fuck is wrong with you, Zigzagoon?!" Arden yelled as a couple of Pokémon ran to hold him back, though this didn't stop him from grabbing and swinging at Mavy. The furious Quilava didn't deter the Zigzagoon, though; as Rye and I looked down at him helplessly, he didn't say a word or even move an inch.

All he did was just stand there in shock, still staring after his father all the while.

* * *

"You know what he did, correct?"

"Y-yes, ma'am."

"And you are aware that for attacking a fellow member of the Exploratory Society, Zigzagoon will be subject to expulsion from the Guild unless your team pays the fine of ten thousand Poké, correct?"

"...yes, ma'am, w-we can cut from our earnings. I-it can be paid off over time, right?"

"That is an option."

"Whew, okay, okay. I-I'm sorry again, Ms. Delcatty."

"This wasn't your fault, there's no need for apologies. You know Quilava's not pressing anything, this should all be behind us soon."

"Sorry."

"Thank you for your time, Treecko. You may-"

"H-he's innocent, you know."

"...I'm sure he is, Treecko, but given the recent revelation that he has immediate family within the Phoenix League, there is the possibility that he is involved with the group as well. Protocol calls for an investigation. We can tell the witnesses to stay quiet, but nothing else."

"I... y-yes, ma'am. Thank you."

As I waited outside the door listening in to the conversation finish, I stood up to meet Rye as he hung his head.

"W-well... that went well, huh?" he asked. I replied with a sigh as we left the small office, stopping for a moment to look over the bustling Guild. We'd shakily returned to the Guild earlier that day, the battle of the previous night still fresh in our minds. With five of our number needing medical attention and most of our tents useless, the remainder of the trip home had been chaotic, to say the least, but we'd managed to get back in one piece. It seemed no one was any the wiser about our absence, so we'd dropped back into the daily grind just in time to deal with the nightmare that was the aftermath of Mavy's outburst.

Mavy hadn't been the same since last night. Where his quips, condescending comments, and occasional rural charm had been, there was only quiet shock as we walked back. Since we'd gotten home, he'd just elected to be left alone to lie in bed in our base, which led us here to the present. Neither of us really seemed to know what do do now; it seemed it was all still sinking in for Rye. I, meanwhile, was at a loss. I'd suspected that that Linoone had some connection, but I'd been quick to dismiss it. Now, though... I just didn't know. The current plan was to just try and slowly reel Mavy back in over the next few days and hope for the best.

As we turned into our base, Rye gave the door a soft knock.

"Mavy? Hey, w-we finished talking with Ms. Delcatty. You shouldn't have to worry, we'll-"

He paused as Mavy gave him a look, dropping some trinket into the sack he'd brought along from home.

"Ah, hey. Was wonderin' if you'd show up," he said quietly.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Rye asked. Mavy just sighed and slung his sack over his back.

"Leavin'. Ah'm goin' home," he said.

A bit of stunned silence hung over Rye and I as he watched us, waiting for a response.

"L-leaving? Why? Wh-what'd we do?" Rye soon stammered.

"Y'all didn't do nothin', yer alright. It's just ah can't do this. If Pa's with 'em, then... I-I can't," Mavy replied.

"Magh, I-" I started.

"I know, I know. Look, Ma's prolly worried 'bout me, ah gotta be there if..." Mavy said. He paused before hanging his head and slowly zigzagging past us. "Thank y'all for givin' me a shot. Ah won't forgetcha."

The Zigzagoon walked out the door and turned the corner out of sight, not looking back once. Rye and I took a moment to soak in what we'd just seen before we ran out the door and after him.

"Magh-" I called.

"Don't. Just lemme go," Mavy snapped back.

"We... h-heer. Fah yeh," I tried. Mavy stopped, apparently rolling his eyes.

"Oh, fuck off," he growled, turning around to face us. "Don't gimme that corny shit. It ain't gonna make me change my mind."

"Mavy, I... i-it's okay. We'll help you through this, alright? As a team," Rye tried.

"Hah, a team. The 'mon helpin' to arrest his own pa, yer scrawny wimpy ass, and the glorified feral. Some team," Mavy rebutted. My paws twitched in frustration, though Rye only bit his lip and sighed.

"Y-yeah, and we managed to do all that! We were... th-that, and we found that map! W-we took down that Toxicroak!" Rye reasoned.

"Scuse me, Beck and I took it down," Mavy said.

"Uh, e-exactly! Y-you couldn't have done that by yourself, could you?" Rye asked. Mavy's face twitched, his eyes watering as his gaze darkened.

"Yeah, but... a-ah can't do this. Pa's... he's... I can't do this, not to him," he said. Rye bit his lip and scratched at his head, seemingly unsure of how to convince Mavy from here. As the two stared each other down, I decided to give my two cents.

"W-we heer. We'll halp," I offered. "We... halp yeh. Help Pah. Yeah?"

Mavy narrowed his eyes at my flimsy diatribe, though Rye seemed to realize what I was going for.

"Y-yeah, we'll help you get through this. Y-you... uh, you don't have to be... sorry, uh, d-defined by this. We'll get through this as a team, w-we'll find Linoone and get him back. G-going home won't help, doing something will," Rye said, holding out a hand.

"Yeah. Wha think... M-Maf-vy?" I asked, joining him. Mavy hesitated long and hard as he stared at the two of us, a couple of tears coursing through his fur. After what seemed like hours, he let out something between a laugh and a sob.

"A-ah didn't know you had that in ya, Treecko," he said. Rye gave a sad smile.

"Honestly, that's just Sinni speaking," he said. "S-so what do you-"

"Before ah leave, I need y'all to do me a favor," Mavy interrupted. Our faces fell. Our efforts hadn't been enough after all...

As we looked at each other, Rye swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Wh-which is?" he croaked.

"Parchment. Gotta write to Ma, then ah'll be back fer dinner," Mavy said. At our stupefied faces, the Zigzagoon burst into giggles, tears still staining his face's fur. "Damn, y'all's faces! W-wish ah could've gotten a Smeargle for that!"

I growled quietly, averting my gaze as Rye sighed annoyedly, though Mavy quickly straightened up. "Yeah, I can get through this myself, that's fer sure. But I reckon I'll trust y'all on this one for now. A-ah'll stay."

A little smile found its way onto my face as Rye let out a sigh of relief, crouching down and reaching for Mavy as he offered quiet words of comfort.

"Rye, no, come on, don't do that. N-no hugs," the Zigzagoon said, squirming out of the Treecko's attempt at consolation. As Rye muttered a quiet apology, he picked his sack up and slowly followed us as we started back up the dirt path. Looking over at the two, I found myself strangely at peace for the first time in a couple days.

We'd get through this as a team, we'd said. I was alone, yes, but not entirely. At least until I could find some answers, I could at least count on these two.

Somehow, that eased the pain a good bit.

"Y-you gonna be okay?" Rye asked Mavy, who sniffled as he zigzagged alongside us.

"I'll live, I guess. Got... this to live with now, but I got faith. Better not disappoint me, I can still leave whenever," he said.

"W-we won't. We promise," Rye said.

"Sure, sure," Mavy sniffled as he put his sack back down by his bed, wiping off his wet face with his tail. "Y-y'know, this feels like a pattern. We all got daddy issues now, don't we?"

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah, ah got this goin' on, Rye's got the whole Totodile thing with his, and yours're prolly rabid. Yep, Team Reach, the daddy issues team," Mavy elaborated, lying down in his straw bed and staring out the window. I grimaced a bit at the rabid comment, though his comment made me think.

_'He still thinks I was born a feral... huh.'_

"Rye?" I asked, leaning in to whisper into his earlobe. "We tehl?"

"Huh? You think...?" Rye asked. I nodded, and after some hesitation, he nodded back. "O-okay. Okay. Uh... Mavy?"

"I'd like some alone time, thanks," Mavy said.

"D-do you want us to fill you in? Like, on that secret you kept asking about?" Rye asked. Mavy immediately looked up, clearly interested.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Yeah, just please don't tell anyone. I mean it, just... p-please don't," Rye said, watching as Mavy managed a grin.

"Well, shit! Never thought I'd be hearin' this... go on, then," he said, making himself comfortable in his hay bed.

"Right... y-you might wanna sit down for this, er, or j-just stay sitting, y'know," Rye said. "So, uh, the meat of it is... uh, Beck's not actually a feral. He's... h-he's a human."

A couple seconds of silence passed.

"He's... a hoo-mon? Like the not-Pokémon things that made that stuff in the desert?" Mavy asked.

"Y-yeah, those. So, basically, I found Beck in-" Rye started.

"That don't make no sense. He's pretty obviously an Oshawott, yer tellin' me he's a hoo-mon, too?" Mavy demanded. Rye paused, his face going pale.

"Wh-what? No, I mean like he used to be one, but he's an Oshawott now. L-like they say the Dungeontamer or Grandmaster Lucario were," he tried to elaborate.

"Who?" Mavy asked.

My tail sagged as I looked at the defeated Rye. After some hesitation, he groaned and took a seat on the floor.

"Dammit... o-okay, so back when the world was created, life sorta split into two tiers, that's Pokémon and humans..." he began to a very confused Mavy. I let out a sigh and took a seat against the wall, listening as Rye kept trying to explain this Buneary-hole.

_'Well, we'll be able to get it across in time to grab breakfast tomorrow if we're lucky. I'm glad he's staying, though. Life would be way less interesting without him around._

_Honestly, I think I need all the interesting I can get at this point.'_


	44. Dawning

As the old saying claimed, a simple life was a happy life. For the first time since he learned the concept of free will, Maverick was beginning to understand that sentiment.

The past two weeks had been interesting for the Zigzagoon, to say the least. At long last, he had finally ditched his deadbeat little hamlet to pursue his dream of being remembered, and it seemed he was making some progress in that regard. Unfortunately, it seemed fate had a wrench to throw into his plans.

He'd seen his father in the flesh among the Phoenix attackers the previous night. There was no room for denial. Mavy wasn't entirely sure what this meant for him. How much of his life had been dictated by this? Did his ma know? Had everything he'd been taught come from this?

Of course, he'd decided that simply going back to his village and shutting down was not the ideal option here, especially given his partners' wishes. These partners, however... well...

"Crazy, both of y'all," he muttered to himself as he rolled a piece of parchment out on the floor.

"Huh?" Rye asked.

"Ah said do you know where a pen is?" Mavy quickly requested. Rye quickly nodded and turned to his partner, who waddled over to pick a pen from a little pile of writing materials. As Beck held up a piece of charcoal, Mavy turned his attention back to the parchment before him.

Truly, the Oshawott was an odd one. Yes, there was the unusual notion that a feral was capable of such higher thought after such a short period, but the true Slaking in the room... well, Mavy was still trying to wrap his head around that.

Among the rapid dashing of first impressions the two had displayed when he'd joined was what seemed to be a very important detail they were withholding. Mavy had initially been rather upset at this, but he'd managed to push it to the wayside. He had always still wondered, though: what was so important that the two kept sidestepping around it, even as he established himself as a loyal teammate?

Needless to say, Mavy was not expecting... _that._

Humans? Some prior apocalypse? Disembodied voices? Beck, of all Pokemon, being some ape-thing that was sent here by said voice for some important task?

_'...they gotta be screwin' with me. There ain't no way that's real, he's prob'ly just made up some weirdass tale to throw me off._

_Then again, it's Rye we're talkin' 'bout. He ain't damn near bright enough to think up a story like that just to fiddle with me. And Beck, like, back at the camp last night... not sure a feral could fake a breakdown like that. Not even sure if they could even have one. So... either both of them got a screw loose, or somehow that's all real._

_...iunno, mon.'_

With that in mind, Mavy took the piece of charcoal from Beck's paw, holding it in his mouth as he scrounged his mind for words. There was so much he wanted to write to his ma about, how could he fit everything on this one sheet of parchment? His adventures? Rye and Beck? Everything with his pa? Where was he even to begin?

"...

...ah can't write."

Rye and Beck blinked.

"What?" Beck asked.

"Don't know how to write," Mavy sighed, dropping the pen.

"Wh-why?" Rye asked.

"Never needed to, I'm a four-legger from a hick town, what do ya want from me? Dammit, ah didn't think this through," Mavy groaned. Rye stared for a moment before stepping up.

"W-well, I-I could write for you? Like, you tell me what to write," he offered. Mavy stepped aside and gave a grin.

"Thanks," he nodded. As his team leader picked up the pen, he cleared his throat. "Hi, Ma. Wanted to write to ya, tell you how the Guild life was treatin' me," he began. Rye started furiously scribbling the Gray-script down as Mavy's little smile stayed on his face.

_'They're prolly nuts, yeah, but hey, they at least ain't dicks 'bout it.'_

* * *

The sun was just starting to set as we stepped out of our base, relieved to finally be done with that long while of writing. The fruits of our labor, a simple envelope, sat in Mavy's mouth as he walked alongside us. The plan was to get that shipped out while Rye and I got dinner, though as we stopped to split off at the Guild's bulletin boards, Rye cleared his throat.

"Mavy? Uh, could you send this, too? Been meaning to do it myself," he requested, holding up his own envelope. As he set it down, Mavy spit out his own letter and peered down at the new one

"To Feraligatr? Bassa Village? Wut're you-" he began. I cleared my throat, cutting him off in time for him to see me exchange a glance with a hesitant Rye. The Treecko made to answer, but ground his teeth as Mavy slowly nodded, clicking his tongue as his face became one of glee.

"So that's this Sinni ya keep talkin' 'bout... sure, ah'll do that fer ya," the Zigzagoon said, only barely holding back a shit-eating grin.

"No, not you, too... i-it's not like that! I-I'm just checking in! I- sh-she's a Feraligatr, I couldn't even-" he tried.

"Sure, Rye. Sure," Mavy said before going for the letters. Although it looked like Rye was ready to hit his head against something, he managed to straighten himself up and hold up a finger.

"A-alright, uh, if there's a cheapest option, use it, please. We need the money for... uh, a fine," he elaborated. Mavy paused and furrowed his brow in understanding.

"How much?" he asked. Rye averted his gaze, swallowing.

"T-ten thousand Poké," he said quietly, though just loud enough for Mavy to hear. He stared for a moment before giving an amused scoff.

"Dayum! Y'all shoulda just let me leave, y'know that, right?" he asked. Neither of us responded, so he just rolled his eyes. "Y'all really blew it on this one. Ah'd say I'm worth a lot, but ten thousand's pushin' it. I mean, whatever y'all wanna do."

With that, he picked the two envelopes off the dirt path and started back on his walk to Impetus Town. Watching him go for a minute, Rye and I soon carried on towards the mess hall.

As we eventually sat down at our usual spots with food trays in hand, we exchanged silence for a minute, quietly eating before Rye cleared his throat.

"Y-you really think that was the right thing to do? Like, telling Mavy?" he asked. I hesitated for a bit before nodding, prompting Rye to lean back and consider amidst the loud dinnertime chatter. "I mean... it was the right time, I guess. We got him to stay, I guess it was only fair after... that."

He shifted in his seat a bit, craning his head to watch the door before continuing.

"So, the f-fine. We're gonna be at that for a while, huh?" he asked.

"Ugh, yeah," I groaned.

"Just- why'd he have to do that? M-Mr. Arden wasn't-" Rye started before quickly glancing around. Biting his lip, he leaned in. "Mr. Arden wouldn't have hurt Linoone. Uh, that bad, at least. Why couldn't Mavy have just... agh!"

A hard kick of frustration from the Treecko hit me in my little foot.

"Agh! Rye!" I yelped. His eyes widened a bit.

"S-sorry! I'm just really on edge, and... ugh. Th-this is all getting to my head," he muttered.

"Heh, yeah. Same," I agreed, trying to reach for my foot with my stubby arms. As I soon gave up, Mavy suddenly sprung into an empty seat, clearly finished with his letterboy duties. As he looked down at the tray we'd gotten him, he sighed and bowed his head, starting to whisper to himself.

"Mavy? Wha duh-ing?" I asked. He kept muttering to himself for a bit before opening his eyes.

"Prayin'," he said.

"Really? I-I never thought you were that type. Uh, who to?" Rye asked.

"Kyogre, like the rest of muh village. Yeah, I don't usually, but ah reckon now's as good a time as any," Mavy reasoned, oblivious to my odd look towards him.

"Heh, I-I guess we could use the help," Rye nodded before straightening up. "Here's to smooth sailing from here on out, and, uh, to a better tomorrow!"

"Ye!" I agreed.

"Yep, here's hopin'," Mavy added.

* * *

Nothing was concrete among the Guild's apprentices yet, but whispers were spreading fast.

A couple of days ago, some had noticed several teams appeared to be missing, though most had been quick to dismiss this as either just not seeing them or a multi-day dive. Once Teams Joules and Frontier had returned only to end up under Audino's care, there had been no room for denial. Something had happened.

As the teams previously unaccounted for returned to their daily lives, rumors had begun to spread, and all of them had one thing in common: the Guild had quietly sent out an expedition. But many couldn't help but wonder why...

Some said the Phoenix command had been located. Some said an artifact of significance had been found by one of the lesser teams, though the stories varied from the lost Lustrous Orb to a record of a human stockpile to even an Arceusian plate. Some said the group had been attacked for this artifact, with casualties ranging between stories. Others still claimed one of the apprentices had betrayed their peers. Most, however, simply brushed all of this off as hogwash.

However, as the whispers sailed through the mess hall, Team Assail only sat and listened, occasionally giving each other a dubious look. At present, the team next to them were discussing the actions taken during the fabled expedition, particularly whoever had done it. As they spoke, Mustie couldn't help but listen in closely.

"I'm not sure if this is Tauros or not, but I heard Treecko's team dug the artifact up. Y'know, the team with the feral."

"Really? Reach, of all teams?"

"I don't know, mon, that's just what she told me. She said she was talking with Hitmonchan, so I'm not sure."

"Huh. First we get an impressed feral that knows not to tear faces off, then someone starts trying to jack the spacetime orbs, now this. Been a weird year."

"Tell me about it. How 'bout we drink over it with the lads at the inn?"

"Sure, if you're paying."

As the team got up to leave, Mustie scowled a bit and looked over at his partner.

"Load of shit, it is," he said. "Tell me, Gold, what've the little shit and his pet done to earn this?"

"Well, uh... can't think of-" the Persian began, only to be cut off as Mustie held up a claw.

"Exactly. Jackshit. Only been a fuckin' moon and they've already dug some crusty thing up. You know how many of us actual teams have trying at that for fuck knows how many years?" he asked.

"That's half the Guild you're describing there," Gold said.

"Half? If only," Mustie said, sending a glare in the direction of Team Reach. They sat there stuffing their faces, likely not granting them or any other burgeoning team they now outclassed a second thought, the Weavile thought. Oh, how he wanted to rip something to ribbons right now... no, violence wouldn't do much. They were no Team Apex, he doubted they'd keep quiet to Arcanine about any brawl. But maybe... they wouldn't need to fight...

"You thinkin' what I'm thinking, Gold?" Mustie asked. His partner cracked an ugly smirk.

"Way ahead of ya, think I might have an idea. See, I know a mon who knows a mon 'bout a mile out from Amber Meadow..."

* * *

_Clanga-clanga-clanga!_

As the loud morning bell woke me with a start, I gave a moan. I couldn't bring myself to budge from my bed. Yesterday had been so long, and after the early-morning walking, the bureaucratic torture, and emotional turmoil, I just wanted to maybe sleep in today. I was sure the Guild would understand.

I only managed to get maybe five extra minutes of snoozing in before I was dragged out of the scratchy straw bed by force. Prying my eyes open, I found Rye giving me a disapproving look as he dragged me onto the dirt floor by my arm.

"Shaaah," I moaned.

"No, we're not doing that. C-come on, Beck," Rye said tiredly. It took a couple minutes of coercing, but a sudden Pin Missile suddenly stuck itself into the ground near my face, sending me shooting back in a panic. Looking over his work as adrenaline pumped through me, Mavy gave a satisfied grin.

"Okay, yer awake, now git your ass off the floor," he said. I glared at him for a second before groaning and pushing myself up. As I dusted myself off, Rye stepped out to the door to address us.

"Honestly, I think Beck has a point. I think we should just, er, t-take the day off. That expedition... yeah," he said. Mavy and I exchanged a glance.

"Sure, that sounds nice," the Zigzagoon agreed.

"Yeah," I added. With that decided, Rye gave a clap and led us outside, taking in the spring morning before suddenly freezing.

"Uh... what do we do?" he asked. I paused to consider, realizing with a start that we didn't actually have anything planned for any given day other than work.

"Sh-shahp?" I suggested.

"No, no, we need to save money. Like, w-we need ten thousand Poké for Mavy's fine," Rye reminded me. "Maybe we could stop by the library and try and research the Caves of Being, like... uh, i-it's probably not a coincidence you found that thing, Beck."

An image of the Lampent librarian quickly flashed past my mind's eye.

"Nah," I quickly said. Rye gave me a questioning look, though soon nodded in understanding.

"Right, yeah, her. Uh... oh, we could help Ms. Audino out at the infirmary! There's those Pokemon hurt from the expedition, and m-maybe she'll pay us for helping!" he piped. I thought about this for a second.

"Yeah, sure," I agreed.

"I'm along for the ride, do whatever," Mavy said. With that agreed upon, I dragged my feet after my partners, hoping a bit of breakfast would wake me up.

A quick breakfast later, I found myself standing behind Rye as he tried to make his case before Ms. Audino, the nurse periodically humming and nodding as he spoke.

"...and, uh, w-we thought maybe some, er, extra hands would be helpful?" Rye finished. Ms. Audino gave a warm smile in response.

"Well, that's very kind of you. If you can help care for the injured for the expedition, that would be wonderful. Go ahead and bring them breakfast whenever it gets here, alright?" she requested.

"Yes, ma'am. C-could we... uh, never mind," Rye said, starting for the door to the patient room. Mavy just sighed.

"We gettin' paid for this?" he asked for Rye. Ms. Audino furrowed her brow.

"Well, hm... we'll see about that. Do a good enough job and I could-" she said before looking back with a start. "Rye? Wrong door."

"Huh? I-isn't this the wing?" Rye asked. Ms. Audino watched him confusedly for a moment before chuckling to herself.

"No, that's the emergency room. Beck recovered in there when you first found him, if I remember correctly," she corrected. Rye went a bit red in the face as he looked at the door.

"S-sorry, I-I guess habits," he stammered.

"Just don't go in there for old time's sake, I've got a Pikachu in there. He's paraplegic and missing his tail, I think he'd like to be left alone," Ms. Audino instructed.

"Oh, Zygarde... y-yes, ma'am, we will," Rye reassured, gesturing to Mavy and I. As we filed into the hallway leading out of the humble waiting room, I stole a brief glance through the small door near the opening, catching a glimpse of the old room and the aforementioned Pikachu watching us from where I'd laid only a month before. My curiosity sated, I blinked a bit.

Just over a month ago, I was a confused little Oshawott who couldn't even speak. Now, I was... well, a confused little Oshawott who still couldn't speak that well. That aside, I'd come a long way from waking up in that dingy straw bed with a hole in my chest.

_'Actually, now I'm wondering...'_

Looking down at my chest and brushing aside the cyan fur there, I winced a bit. Sure enough, a decently-sized scar still lingered where that Zubat had torn into me. I took a bit to just stare at the thing as we stopped. This was where I'd started as a Pokemon, and chances were I'd carry it for as long as I stayed this way. I felt a bit proud of the mark in a weird way, though...

"...so we've taken over for Ms. Audino today. Uh, we... er, Be- O-Oshawott?" Rye asked concernedly as he addressed the five bedridden explorers before us, his eyes wandering to my scar.

"Ew, what is that? How'dja get that, Hoo-mon?" Mavy inquired. I cringed violently as I was pulled out of my daze, and my paw was quickly grabbed as Rye dragged me out of the room.

"I-I'm sorry, we gotta sort an i- uh, th-thing out, w-we'll be with you soon!" he called to the perplexed explorers behind us. As we bunched up in the hallway, I sent Mavy a quick death glare, and despite my appearance, it seemed to be intimidating to get a flinch from him.

"Mavy! Wha f... dah-nah shaa-shagh aagh!" I tried.

"What? What'd ah do?" Mavy squeaked, cowering at my admittedly kinda pathetic outburst. Grinding his teeth, Rye pushed me aside.

"Wh-why'd you call him... uh, that name?" he asked, his tone far more diplomatic yet defeated than mine. Mavy looked at him as if he'd just unironically asked if the earth was flat.

"Uh... because you wanted me to pretend he was one o' those things and not an Oshawott? Y'know, species name, whaddaya want from me?" he asked. Rye opened his mouth to try and rebut, though his face quickly wilted as he realized just how clueless Mavy seemed to be in this regard. After a bit of stunned silence, he let out a quiet moan.

"B-Beck, could you please get the food from Ms. Audino? I-I think I need to explain some more to him," he requested.

"Y-yeah, sure," I blinked, putting a paw to my still-racing heart. As I waddled back to the waiting room, I couldn't help but note Mavy didn't have any comments to make in my wake. Pretty unusual, I noted as I took a seat against Ms. Audino's front desk, peeking out the door for any signs of the aforementioned food.

There was something weirdly soothing about just sitting there with nothing but Rye's quiet voice and Ms. Audino's pleasant humming to distract me. With no big responsibility weighing down on me, it felt nice to just sit there and occasionally try to converse with the nurse, choppy as said conversation might have been.

"You haven't been straining yourself too hard, right? A poisoning like the one you had is nothing to scoff at," she observed, pressing a feeler to my chest in a quick impromptu checkup.

"Nah," I lied. The nurse gave me a quick look of doubt before she shrugged it off and continued with her work.

"Has everything else been okay since you were here last? No complications or permanent damage?" she asked.

"Uh... nah," I said.

"And your mental state? I understand being thrust into a world larger than your home dungeon must be hard, are you doing okay in that regard? No... continued odd thoughts of any kind?" Ms. Audino inquired. I hesitated for a bit, remembering just how much she'd listened in on that month ago. I remembered she'd heard enough to assume I was just insane, but as long as she didn't pursue it any further than that I figured I'd be fine. I mean, she didn't wouldn't have told anyone if that was the case, right?

Right?

"No, nah reely," I shakily reassured her. Although this was nothing short of a big fat lie, it seemed to be enough to get her off my back for now, as she got to her feet and offered another warm smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. It's good to see that-" she paused before turning her head to look out the door, the flapping of wings signaling a Pokemon's arrival. "That must be breakfast now. I suppose we should be getting back to work."

Pulling me to my feet, she led me to the door to retrieve the burlap sack of food the Flyer had delivered and sent me on my way. Rye was still catching Mavy up when I passed the two in the cramped hallway, so I went to meet my fellow apprentices alone.

Upon entering the room, I shifted my eyes to the floor, knowing full well I probably wasn't about to get a warm welcome from the five Pokemon in here.

"Hey, bragh-fehs," I quietly announced, digging through the sack as I quietly cursed Raticate for arranging it so messily.

"Oshawott," a voice said. I clenched my teeth and looked up to face the source, being the Luxio that'd come along with us. To my surprise, there wasn't suspicion or paranoia in her face like I'd expected, but... something else.

"I'll be honest, the three of us didn't really like you when you dropped in. But we saw what you did back during the expedition, and I think at this point we've got enough grounds to say this," she said. Giving a brief look at her Electabuzz and Emolga partners in bed next to her, she gave a smirk. "On behalf of Team Joules here, I think you're alright, little fella."

I stared at Luxio for a bit in disbelief, amazed I was actually hearing this. I felt a little smile sprout on my face.

"T-tank yeh, mahm," I said, gratefully handing the explorer her breakfast. As I went around passing out food, that grin stayed plastered on my face.

I knew I'd probably never be thought of as truly equal here in this Guild, but seeing that one of the apparently bigger teams were willing to at least accept me... I don't know, it felt great.

Despite the discrimination, the pain, the anger, and everything in between that my life as a Pokemon had offered, I'd managed to somewhat prove myself in this world.

Even with everything going on at the time, knowing that I was finally more than just a savage creature in the Guild's eyes felt like I'd won the world.

With the explorers' breakfasts passed out, I headed back into the hallway to meet Rye and Mavy, who'd seemed to finally have finished with their powwow. Though Mavy just seemed more dubious than before, Rye was quick to note the lingering grin on my face.

"They...?" he deduced, slowly joining me in my high spirits. "Th-this is great! I think it's just a matter of time before... er, y-you know."

Watching from the side, Mavy forced his own smile.

"Wasn't here for mosta that, but nice job, ah reckon. You still gotta convince ev'ryone you ain't crazy, what with-"

"A-anyways!" Rye interrupted. With a painful clap to my back, he led me and Mavy to the lobby for further instruction from Ms. Audino.

Most of the day was spent in high spirits after that, with nothing but the miniscule tasks from the nurse to distract us. An honest day's work saw a bit of apparent progress in the injured Pokemon's healing, a good few laughs between us all, and Ms. Audino watching it all with an unwavering amused smile. Such a smile was plastered on her face as we all stepped out of the infirmary, the sun setting below the horizon as she fished a small sack off her belt and placed it into Rye's hands with a quiet jingle.

"Five hundred Poké for a good day's work, a hundred more for not complaining," she said. Rye looked down at the sack of dull metal coins conflictedly.

"M-Ms. Audino, you don't have to-" he began.

"Rye, shut the distortion up and let the lady pay us," Mavy said through clenched teeth. Rye promptly shut his mouth and quietly tucked the money away.

"Th-thank you, ma'am. Uh, t-tell that Pikachu we said we hope he gets better," he said. Audino responded with a nod and a wave before she disappeared back into the infirmary. We stood before the doorway for a moment before I turned away.

"Hey. Lass one thehr... uh..." I said. I couldn't think of a way to finish that sentence, so as Rye and Mavy turned curiously, I just blew a Razz at them and dashed off, leaving Rye yelping in alarm as he tried to catch up. It was a straight line from the infirmary to our base, so I would've won had my little legs not failed me. Next thing I knew, I was tripping head-over-heels and watching as first Rye bolted past me, then Mavy stopped to blow his own exaggerated Razz in my face before zigzagging after Rye. Groaning to myself, I pushed myself off the ground and chased the Zigzagoon the rest of the way, only to slow to a halt. Rather than celebrating his unfair victory, Rye was looking down at a scroll that must've come from the mail slot.

"What?" I asked, peering over his shoulder. The Treecko met eyes with mine.

"Mr. Arcanine wants us and the others from the expedition. D-debriefing in his at sundown, he says. Alright, I think we can-"

His head suddenly jolted upwards as his eyes widened.

"I-it is sundown!" he cried, immediately bolting away with scroll in hand. Gritting my teeth at the prospect of more running, I quickly took off after him, Mavy by my side. By the time the resultant blur of panic had subsided, I found myself past the guards at Arcanine's door and with a couple dozen sets of eyes on me. The apprentices seated around Arcanine's treasure room watched us as the Guildmaster himself sighed quietly.

"Team Reach. Fashionably late, I see," he said.

"I-I'm sorry, sir, we didn't-" Rye started.

"You may be seated, young Treecko," Arcanine commanded. Rye gulped quite audibly before nodding and dragging his tail into the room. A waving vine near the front of the crowd drew our attention as May gestured us over, and as we found our seats next to her and her teammates, I quickly noticed more than her proud grin to Rye: namely, Arden rubbing at a spot on his arm and coldly glaring at Mavy and Pike suspiciously watching me.

_'He still doesn't like me, I guess. I guess some things never change, huh?'_

"Now, then. I suppose I should make this quick. I am sure you all know why you are here. We have in our possession a map that could help us to pinpoint the location of the elusive Caverns of Being. This will not be a traditional debriefing, however, as I have some concerns I would like to raise," Arcanine said. "Firstly, despite the expedition's secrecy, we were still found out and attacked. I worry as to the implications of this, especially given the more pressing of these concerns."

The Guildmaster paused for effect.

"Earlier today, we received word from our sources in Ebbull City that a large creature emerged from the Coronet Wall, headed north for the Valor Sea, and disappeared. Normally, this would be of little concern to our Guild, but given the nature of the Caverns, I find this of interest. See, the Caverns form a sort of spatial distortion that links them with their other end in Sun Minor; think a magnagate but more stable. Assuming the rumors are true, it is possible this creature entered the Caverns in preparation for a rendezvous. If that is the case, then I believe it wishes to speak with us."

I stared in growing disbelief as the others whispered around me.

"As such, all I ask of you is to remain alert. Another expedition is possible, so be prepared for whatever is to come. Thank you, and forever forward."

As a murmur rose around me and the others began getting up to leave, I blinked, this dump of information weighing down on me as Rye and Mavy sat there in silence. I hung my head as I got lost in thought as per usual.

Something may or may not have been coming from the Coronets. Another expedition was looming. I might finally face... something. I didn't know.

_'I guess I'll worry about that when I get there. Now... uh... why can't I... uh..._

_...oh, no.'_

As I tried to pull myself out of my contemplation, I found I simply couldn't snap back to reality. I frantically looked around for some sort of salvation, only to confirm what I'd feared: there was nothing but void all around me and my physical body was, as per usual, missing.

_...no, no, not this again! I was awake, is just spacing out really enough to-_

Before I could fully process that I was having another vision, I suddenly found myself sitting on a ledge idly, my body acting of its own will as it idly kicked its legs. Only a few feet below my body's feet, waves crashed against what was clearly debris, though rusted and overgrown with sea plants. Around me, rather than the heat of battle I'd come to expect from these visions, multiple Pokemon just sat and talked, occasionally looking towards the water as if waiting for something. To top it all off, a familiar figure stood motionless out of the corner of my eye as he stared at a hulk of steel towering over us.

_Cripes._

Given that nothing seemed to be awry, it didn't take long at all for Xatu to slowly turn his head to meet my eyes. I braced myself for whatever was to come, though the bird only blinked and turned his gaze away.

"You are persistent, I will say. Why such an audience, though? I would assume your witnesses would number more than-" he began quietly. He paused as his crests suddenly rose. "...hm. Your Oshawott? How interesting."

At this point, several heads had turned to look confusedly at Xatu, my body's included.

"Oi, whaddaya lookin' at?" it asked. A quick look from Xatu sent a shiver down its spine and shut it up, allowing the bird to continue.

"This other psyche, however..." he muttered before jerking his head to the side. Immediately, I felt something seem to leave from wherever I was, and I could've sworn I heard a yelp sound out as Xatu looked over towards my body. "Bibarel. With me."

"Sorry?" my body asked.

"With. Me," Xatu demanded. The Bibarel I was apparently stuck in flinched and got up, running after Xatu as he began to walk along the cracked concrete and towards the metal tower. As my body caught up, Xatu turned his gaze to the ocean surrounding us.

"Do you know where we are, child?" he asked. I said nothing, though a stern look from Xatu got me trying to figure out how to go about this.

_N-no?_

Xatu hummed to himself.

"We are aboard the Unovan aircraft carrier _Carracosta_ , first deployed during the Orre War and kept active until after the Ruin. She ran into the reef below many a year ago, and here she shall remain, it seems," he said, glancing up at the remains of a large turret above us.

"Wh-what-" my body said.

"Quiet," Xatu commanded before his tone softened once more. "Look around us, child. I know of man's darker side. I know their glory came at a cost. I know that they progressed to kill one another. But consider, perhaps... you tire of my diatribes, I sense."

He gave a quiet sigh.

"Very well. There is not much time, anyways. Another topic, then," he said. "To start, I must, on behalf of the League, apologize for the events of two days ago. Team Horizon assures that the escalation to conflict was not intended, their top priority was the retrieval of the artifact."

_Wait, what?! You're just gonna say "oops, sorry" and that's it?_

"I sense discontent. That is of little importance, however," Xatu observed as we continued walking along the deck's edge.

_You can't just-_

"Below us is the reason I have come here: the sunken headquarters of a human organization known as the Aether Foundation. As it has long since been reclaimed by the waves, I remain ever grateful for the Water type. Inside the structure, or so I am told, this organization harbored the Griseous Orb. Of course, our goals remain out of reach for the time being, but I believe I must ask this," Xatu said.

_I-_

"Child, do you wish to return home?"

I mentally cringed. I really didn't want to think about this, especially not after last night. I didn't want to, but at the same time...

Xatu hummed to himself.

"Homesick, I see. I can assure you, child, you are not alone," he said.

Before I could reply to this, Xatu suddenly paused in place, looking out at the sea. By the looks of it, there were several anomalies appearing on the horizon, and they were getting closer by the second. Xatu blinked before turning back towards me.

"Alas, we have such little time. I do not fear, though. Should we continue on the path we lead as of now, I believe we shall soon meet in a place where there is no darkness."

_What? What are you-_

Xatu laid a wing on my body before a rush of wind and a flash of light teleported us back to where we'd started, where the mercenaries I'd seen before were now scrambling around at the sight of the anomalies, which now revealed themselves as boats and Water-types.

"Prism Archipelago Coast Guard! Surrender your position now or we will attack!" a voice yelled from one of the vessels. Seemingly on cue, a Pokemon suddenly popped out of the water, a strange object under its arm as it clambered onto deck. Looking at the thing, I was reminded of a Revive in its eight-sided appearance...

Was this the Griseous Orb?

All I had time to process after that was Xatu raising a wing, prompting the mercenaries around me to open fire upon the boats surrounding us. I didn't get to see the first blows land, though, as a jerk of Xatu's head sent me careening out of my body and flailing backwards into the void. I screamed and grabbed at nothing to try and stop myself as I spun into nothingness...

"Beck! Beck, snap out of-"

"Sh-sheaaagh!"

With that strangled yell, I jumped back and landed on the floor, feeling at my body to make sure I was back for sure. As I tried to calm myself down, I took a look around. Rye, Mavy, Arden, and a few others were gathered over me, all watching concernedly as I panted to myself. No one dared to say anything as I slowly and shakily looked behind me to meet Arcanine's gaze.

His eyes said it all. He knew. We both did.

Shit was going down.

* * *

"...so lemme get this straight. You want me to go all the way to Impetus Town, break into this one team's base, and-"

"Yeah, you fuck shit up. Steal some stuff here and there, make a mess of things. Then ya leave like nothing happened, we pay you, la-dee-da, we all go home happy," Mustie finished. The Pokemon he and Gold faced looked at them as he considered their offer.

"Right. And which team am I doing this to?" he asked.

"Team Apex," Mustie said. "You're gonna wanna put anything you nick in Reach's place."

The Pokemon's eyes narrowed.

"Reach? Team Reach? I..." he said.

"Ya what?" Gold asked.

"...nothing," the Pokemon eventually said. Mustie gave a nod.

"Well, alrighty then, I just wanna get one more thing outta the way before we start," he said.

"Which is?"

"How's your Oshawott impression?" Mustie asked.

Murkrow couldn't help but smirk a bit.

"I think we can make this work," he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Christmas cometh. A good time for a nice break before I write the story's midpoint, I'd say. Since I won't be getting a new chapter out for a little while, I guess I'll put this out there.
> 
> New Year's Day marks the first birthday of Quenched Torch!
> 
> I'm not sure what I was expecting when I posted this thing nearly a year back, but definitely not this. I mean, wow.
> 
> Thank you all for giving this story a chance, and here's to another year! See you all in a few weeks!


	45. Karma, Just or Otherwise

"Please, sir, we need to go in, he-"

"No, Treecko. The Guildmaster demanded privacy. Whatever he wants with your... ahem, friend, he doesn't want to be disturbed."

"But-"

The Bisharp guards at the entrance to Arcanine's quarters wordlessly stepped to block the doorway, the wicked glint of their blades discouraging Rye from challenging them any further. With no other option, the Treecko reluctantly turned around and started walking back to base, the lanterns lining the streets lighting his path as Mavy zigzagged alongside him.

"What exactly's goin' on?" he asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that he had a... uh, a vision," Rye answered. "But that doesn't make sense, he was awake..."

"Vision? Ya mean, like, back in Littora with that nightmare you were talkin' 'bout?" Mavy asked. Rye gave a nod, putting a hand to his head.

"It should be pretty straightforward, right? Just keep following clues till something comes up. But it's so weird and, uh, what's the word? U-uncertain. I-If he can get a vision while awake, then what else could happen? Ugh, I-I just... it's stressful."

Mavy considered these words for a bit.

"So what you wanna do 'bout it?" he asked.

"What?" Rye replied.

"Standin' around feelin' sorry for yerself ain't gon do shit. Now what're you gonna do to try and fix it?" Mavy questioned.

"What? I-I can't just... fix it! Wh-whatever's doing this to Beck, I can't do anything to change it, can I? I-I'm just a Treecko," Rye answered. "T-the best I can do is just not think about it."

"Aight, we can do that. Whatcha got in mind?" Mavy asked. As the two walked through the dinnertime crowd and past the boards, Rye gave him an ever-so-slightly bemused look.

"Wh-why're you asking me all this?" he wondered. Mavy gave the equivalent to a shrug.

"Yer mah partner. Not best buddy material yet, not by a long shot, but I still gotta look out for you. Ah'll play therapist for a bit," he reasoned, getting a look from Rye. After a moment, the Treecko gave a little smile.

"Thanks. Honestly, it's kinda nice talking to someone that won't just say, like, 'you're fine' or 'shaah.' I-I didn't really expect this coming from you," he said.

"I try mah best," Mavy grinned. "So, you wanna get yer mind off the crazy shit. You said there's a library in town, right? You could read something, maybe I could give learnin' how to a crack."

"Uh, we had a... b-bad experience there. Besides, I don't really wanna just stay in town again..." Rye began.

As the two headed into their team base to discuss their plans for the coming day, the last lingerers started home from Arcanine's quarters, leaving the Guildmaster alone to speak as he pleased. A brief interview with Beck had passed, though now the young Oshawott could only watch as the recently-arrived Alakazam concentrated, connecting the golden dog to what he could only assume was a good few other Pokemon.

"I rest my case before the assembled Guildmasters of northern Gray Proper. In summary, I wish my Guild first rights to exploration of the recently rediscovered Caverns of Being, lest greater risk of intrusion by hostile forces arise. Please raise any concerns at this time," the Guildmaster said. A multitude of voices rushed through his head, though they fell silent as the overseers of the emergency meeting called for order.

" _Guildmaster Emboar, Vale Keep. Is the situation bad enough that the Societies should consider declaring emergency?"_ a gruff voice asked.

"No, no, such would only incite needless panic. There is no need, Gray Proper has suffered enough. Anybody else?" Arcanine answered.

" _Ahem. Guildmaster Haxorus, Ironside City. Why should your Guild get exclusive rights? Surely my own would do well accompanying you,"_ another voice asked.

"No, we cannot risk it. There is too much risk," Arcanine said.

" _Oh, of course. Sure, we're in it with the Phoenixes because we don't want you taking all the glory, am I right?"_

"Enough. I will not jeopardize the very safety of this continent just so your Guild might-" Arcanine snapped before giving a deep breath. "My apologies. I suppose we all need some leisure time once this all concludes. Now, then, anyone else?"

He waited for a moment.

"Very well, then. I shall entrust this proposal to high command. I declare this emergency meeting of the Exploratory Society of Gray Proper adjourned."

Alakazam severed the connection, opening his eyes as Arcanine gave a grateful nod, though his eyes quickly strayed over to Beck. The Oshawott shrunk back a bit, though the psychic's stare was broken quickly as he turned his head back forward and teleported out of the room. With this, silence hung between Beck and Arcanine until the Guildmaster let out a sigh.

"You needn't worry. The situation is within our grasp, child. Go and prepare for whatever might arise," he said quietly. Though doubt was clear in Beck's face, he nodded and bowed his head before the Guildmaster before turning to waddle back up the hall.

Arcanine watched the former human go until he disappeared up the ladder to the surface, then laid down beside the roaring fireplace his living quarters boasted. As soothing heat washed over him, he shook his head.

"What are we to do with you, young one?" he pondered to himself.

* * *

_Knock, knock._

My teammates' heads turned as I stood in the doorway, the torchlight from inside our base shining light on my downcast face. At the sight of me, Rye quickly got to his feet as I dragged my tail in.

"H-how'd it go?" he asked.

"Egh," I replied, taking a seat on my straw bed. Ignoring the concerned looks Rye and Mavy both gave me, I took a moment to just stare at the floor and consider what I'd been presented with over the past hour.

Everything would be fine. That was clearly what the Guildmaster had been trying to get across when he'd ushered everyone but me out of his quarters. As he'd tried to calmly ask me about what I'd seen, he'd tried to subtly maintain that he had everything under control. The warm but strained smile he'd sent me off with betrayed him, though; I knew the worst was probably yet to come.

Noting my downcast look, Rye cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Uh, Mavy and I were talking while you were gone, and we agreed that we'll just take a job. Y'know, nothing too crazy, but enough to get some Poké for Mavy's fine," he said. "No real stakes, nothing to do with everything going on, we might even get some training for if another expedition does happen! Uh, what do you think?"

At my initial look up, Mavy smirked.

"Doesn't really matter, we'll just leave ya with Audino if you say no," he informed me. I cracked a little grin at this. I needed a break, and a good ol' non-consequential dungeon dive with the squad did sound nice.

"Yeah, sure," I affirmed. Rye gave a quick nod before sitting down and turning my attention to Mavy, who wobbily stood on his hind legs to address us.

"Aight, so the dungeon I'm thinkin's one ah used to go to a lot..." the Zigzagoon began.

* * *

As we padded our way down the dirt road south, I remained ever grateful of the clouds obscuring the afternoon sun, I got the feeling they'd make the dive ahead a lot easier.

A quick agreement the previous night and a quick check of the board had led us here with high hopes, the items we still had from our pre-expedition shopping, and a job notice tucked in our bag. It wasn't much, just a surveying mission: go in, note any deviations, and leave a hundred Poké richer. What we had found amusing, though, was Mavy's choice of dungeon. The road to Amber Meadow was long, though somehow the topic of our past outing there had only just come up.

"So y'all have experience in the Meadow, I gander. Wut's the story there?" Mavy asked as he idly snuffed the air, stretching his stiff hind legs behind him. As I cocked my head, Rye mumbled to himself, apparently for not bringing it up sooner.

"Y-yeah, uh, we've been before. First mission, actually," Rye said. Mavy cocked his head and gave a hum.

"Well, now, ain't that a coincidence," he mused.

"Uh, I mean, it's an accessible dungeon. Like, it's sorta close to the Guild, ferals aren't too bad, easy terrain, towns nearby, and i-it's not a cave, heh. Er, Mr. Arden says it's a Guild favorite," Rye tried to explain.

"Yer Guild talk there's cool 'n all, but I just know it because..."

Mavy's pace seemed to slow.

"...cus Pa used to take me here to... agh, damn it," he muttered, hanging his head as he zigzagged. Before either of us could try and comfort him, he let out an "ah'm fine" and kept on his way.

The mood sufficiently soured, I took to just looking around at the scenery. As I looked up at the sky, I just barely caught a bird flying overhead, which further investigation revealed... well, small, I guess. I don't know, it was cloudy.

_'I can't help but be reminded of that Murkrow from our first mission. Heh, imagine if that were the same one, that'd be pretty neat.'_

The bird was long gone by the time I thought to point it out to Rye, so I turned my attention back forwards as I waddled after him, hoping that nice reprieve we'd come out here for wasn't so distant.

* * *

**Amber Meadow**

**1F**

_'Right. Before we do anything, I gotta get this out of the way first.'_

Holding a paw up to stop Rye and Mavy, I stepped forward and looked down the grass corridor we were faced with.

"Ahahm," I cleared my throat. "SHAAAGAAAAGHH!"

My challenge echoed through the dungeon for a good few seconds, so it was no surprise when a Purrloin ran into the hall, hissing as it charged me. Rye and Mavy both staggered back as it approached with claws unsheathed, though I could only imagine their reactions as I whacked the feral in the face with the flat end of my scalchop. As it tumbled to the ground, I hit it with a hard Aqua Slap, then hosed it with a long, hard Water Gun, not letting up until it stopped struggling. Panting for a bit, I gave the thing a little kick for good measure. I hadn't forgotten that one feral Purrloin that'd handed my ass to me here nearly a month and a half ago, and I clearly hadn't forgiven. Seeing one like it at my feet... it was satisfying in a weird way.

With my impromptu venegance handed out, I looked back at Rye and Mavy, who stared back in thinly veiled concern as I gestured them on, ready to proceed. As the two silently started ahead of me, I quickly stuck my tongue out at the golden grass lining the path before continuing on.

The first floor was unremarkable at best, only really offering a few ferals here and there. Despite this, most of the floor was spent in awkward silence, one which was only broken as we finished scouring the floor and approached the earthen stairs.

"Right, uh, so far, so good. The place has, like, six floors, shouldn't be too long at this rate," Rye nodded as he led us up.

* * *

**Amber Meadow**

**3F**

Despite our efforts, it seemed the silence couldn't hold forever, not with Mavy flanking us.

"...and this Pansear, right? She and I tried at it fer, like, a moon 'r two, but then one o' the old docks collapsed under her and she got sucked straight into the Strait. This Guild team just so happened to be nearby, so they fished her out," Mavy rattled on as we emerged from floor two. "She blamed me for whatever reason, can ya believe that shit? Smacked me square 'cross the muzzle, then she and her folks hopped town next day."

"Ah. Thaah... eh, sa-suhcks," I commented.

"Yeah. But a Pansear?" Rye asked.

"What, ya think we couldn't get it on?" Mavy asked. Smirking as Rye went a bit red, he continued. "Ain't you ever heard of egg groups? Tyrogue over by the pier told me a Skitty and a Wailord could knock. Yeah, the Skitty'd die real fuckin' quick, but there'd still be an egg, or so I heard."

"Eugh," I shuddered.

"Y-yeah, didn't need to hear that," Rye agreed.

"Trust me, kid, world's messed up. Gets worse the more ya dig," Mavy shrugged before blinking, apparently remembering something. "Yeah, Tyrogue was real mature; you talk with him, yer bound to get one joke. Couldn't even bring up the war without him gettin' all drooly about Cyndaquil and Eevee."

A bit of silence hung in the air before Rye froze and made a guttural sound.

"Y-you don't mean-" he began as we stopped in the middle of the clearing we'd found ourselves in.

"It's possible, he said," Mavy said slyly. Rye's mouth moved wordlessly as he put his hands on his head.

"Wh-b-but I... h-how did I not figure that out?! O-of course they're... I... I-I thought Mr. Pike was just kidding!" he groaned.

"Kiddin', you say? Interesting," Mavy said, raising his furry eyebrows. I gave a sigh

"Plehs stahp," I butted in, waving the two on towards a hallway.

"Yeah, please," Rye shuddered, hurrying after me. With a snicker, Mavy started after us.

"Maybe when we get back we can read if a Feraligatr can-" he started.

"W-WE'RE MOVING ON!" Rye yelled as he slammed his tail into an incoming Patrat's gut. Clearly not willing to argue with that Pound, Mavy met my gaze and shut up. After a minute of awkward silence, Rye coughed, having winded down.

"Anyways. Uh, wh-what do you two think about what Mr. Arcanine said? Like, a giant creature going to the caves, what could that be?" he asked.

"Ya don't know it was goin' to those caves in particular. Coincidences happen," Mavy shrugged. Rye and I gave him a look.

"I-it's a giant creature, probably a Pokemon, wouldn't it make sense?" Rye asked.

"It's a giant creature, so it's all the less likely to give a damn 'bout yer little hoo-mon thing. Don't that make sense?" Mavy asked. I let out a little sigh.

"Ya tink wee faghin' sh-n-nahts, yeah?" I asked. Mavy took a minute to try and decipher what I'd tried to say before snorting a bit.

"Naw, I don't still think y'all're fuckin' nuts, ah think you're just regular nuts," he said. At our flat looks, he only smirked. "Come on, that's an improvement, at least."

Rye just blinked as we approached the staircase, giving a sigh as he scratched off a floor on the list and stepped on one of the dirt steps.

"W-well, assume we, uh, aren't crazy for a second. What-"

* * *

**Amber Meadow**

**4F**

"-wou... uh, w-what would you think the takeaway would be from all that?" Rye asked, shuddering. "Ergh, remind me not to talk between floors, that felt really weird."

Mavy looked at us for a second before smacking his lips.

"Right. So, in all seriousness, let's say you ain't got a screw loose and all this really is related to Beck and his thing, right?" he proposed. "Well, given the, eh, circumstances... ah might actually have an idea wut these Phoenixes're after."

I stopped mid-waddle.

"What?" I demanded.

"See, Pa used to tell me these stories, and I'm gettin' the feel that some o' them, he didn't entirely make up. There was one, like a standard hero tale, he really liked tellin' that one," Mavy elaborated. "Basically, there's this Pokemon, and he's livin' in a land where it's always night. The mon travelled 'cross the world lookin' for these sphere-lookin' keys, opened and went through a magical door, and then the sun rose."

As the three of us stood there, the Zigzagoon paused to consider his own words. "He was tryna fish me in, wasn't he? That whole story, it was... th-that son of a..."

He hung his head, biting his lip hard as his eyes watered. Neither I nor Rye dared to speak up until he gave a shaky breath and started zigzagging along again.

"Mavy-" Rye began.

"Don't. Just... don't," Mavy snapped. Rye gave him a long, sympathetic look before his eyes met mine.

"I-it, uh, it sounds right. But keys? For what?" he asked, his voice more hushed.

"The link. He called it the link," Mavy called back. Rye nodded before looking to me for input.

"Do you remember anything about a link? Like, from when you were human?" he asked. I sighed.

"Nah. I dunno," I said.

It was the truth, I'd never heard of anything like that. Meeting Rye's expectant gaze with only silence, I just kept following him as he sighed and went back to scribbling notes. With nothing much else to do that wasn't worrying about this door thing, I ran a stubby paw along the amber grass to the side, at least hoping the mood would improve as we kept on our way.

* * *

**Amber Meadow**

**6F**

"Alright, uh, last floor! Everything's looked normal so far, maybe it was a false alarm. There's usually, like, something weird if there's a surveyor mission like this. K-kinda sucks, they pay extra if we find something weird with the dungeon," Rye said as we topped the last floor's set of stairs.

"That sounds impractical. You could just fake it an' run off with free money, couldn'tcha?" Mavy demanded. Wincing at his still bitter tone, Rye cleared his throat.

"Th-that's not... uh, they have, like regulations, and..." he tried before sighing. "Let's just go."

I instinctively drew my scalchop as we started on our way, keeping my eyes trained for any surprises to start this floor as I stuck close to Rye. A minute passed where I did nothing but listen to Rye scribble before I took notice of the first issue: I could hear Rye scribbling.

Dungeons weren't quiet. There was always the background noise of ferals and such other pleasant things in the background, I'd learned. I shouldn't have been able to hear charcoal scraping against parchment, not unless... there were no ferals...

"Rye," I whispered. "Is q-qui-eh, yeah?"

The Treecko looked back at me, listening for a moment before his face scrunched up in confusion. He barely had time to question this before he suddenly fell out of sight with a quick yelp, finding himself sprawled in a deep scar in the ground. The second issue.

"Wh-what... what is this? This shouldn't be here," he asked, examining the hole further. As I watched concernedly, Rye gulped, collected our fallen bag, and climbed out of the three-foot-deep hole, ending up on the other side. The three of us started examining for ways across this obstacle when Mavy suddenly seemed to pause.

"Uh... fellas? Y'all feelin' that?" he asked, shifting one of his front feet along the ground. I gave him a confused look before I too froze, realizing the ground was trembling under my feet. Before I could inform Rye of this, a plume of dirt suddenly erupted from just ahead, revealing the third issue with this floor.

Namely, the two hulking, growling Excadrills that'd just exploded out of the ground.

I didn't know much about these things, but among what I did know was that they were usually two feet tall, three tops. The ones that were now glaring us down were five-foot easily, and we appeared to have just pissed them off. While the dungeon looked to already be somehow regenerating the damage to its grass walls, we unfortunately couldn't quite do that ourselves, so I was decently panicked as the twin mole monsters menacingly tromped their way over towards Rye.

"Y-you were sayin' 'bout something weird with the dungeon?" Mavy squeaked.

All Rye had to respond was panicked gasps as the Excadrills both began to run at him on all fours, just barely missing him with a powerful swing as he jumped into the hole to escape getting skewered on their blades. It wasn't long before the Treecko clambered out, screaming at us to run as the ferals roared and jumped over the hole after us. A quick Water Gun to one of their faces bought us a few precious seconds to haul ass into the next hall over, and with our backs against the grass wall, I panted and listened for the ferals' low growling and sniffing. It wouldn't be long before they found us, it seemed.

As I looked to Rye for a solution, all I found was him trembling, though he stopped to put his hands on his head and quietly mumble to himself before long.

"Th-they're ground, we can... no, they're also steel, I won't be able to... alright, alright, okay," he muttered before getting to his feet. "B-Beck, you have the type advantage! You try and go for one of them, Mavy and I'll take the other!"

"What?! Me?" Mavy demanded.

"J-just trust me!" Rye yelled, turning to meet the Excadrills' gazes as they turned the corner. Swallowing hard, I gave a pitiful battle cry and ran at one of them, scalchop in paw. A quick Razor Shell connected with its leg, though I was dismayed to find it didn't seem to do much to the hulking beast other than make it angrier.

_'Shit, okay. New plan.'_

The Excadrill roared at me, so I responded by jumping up and down and yelling at it before booking it away from Rye and Mavy. As I'd hoped, the feral began pursuing, its blades glinting wickedly as it started closing the distance between us. I'd figured I could fight it easier without its friend nearby, but it looked like I'd failed to account for its speed. Worse, I'd hit a fork in the path, and the brief hesitation that it'd brought didn't do me any favors. With seconds to think, I tried to gauge my chances here, maybe there were some items on the ground I could use. On one path, grass. On another, more grass. Well, that was...

_'...grass, you say?'_

Biting my lip, I turned around, staring the Excadrill down as it made to impale me. Just before it could, though, I launched a powerful Water Gun off to the side, allowing it to blow me back a foot and onto the ground, and as I watched, the feral tried to screech to a halt, but it simply flew over me and straight into the grass. Panicked screeches immediately started ringing from inside the brush, and although I could hear it slashing away, it seemed like it was too far in. Before long, the cries faded, being replaced by the sound of shifting plants within the grass. Pushing myself to my feet, I chuckled a bit and turned to run back to join my partners, sparing the innocuous amber grass a look.

_'Karma, bitch.'_

When I returned to our hiding spot, I found that the other Excadrill hadn't quite gone down yet, despite the numerous Pin Missiles sticking from its flesh and the Rye clinging on to its metal head-blade. Mavy stood off to the side, trying to shoot the thing in its face as Rye held on for dear life, soon getting a hand on flesh and trying for a Mega Drain. That seemed to be too much for the beast, as it roared and flung Rye from its head and onto the ground.

"Rye!" I called. Said Treecko trembled a bit on the ground before pushing himself back up in time to stare down his opponent, getting a loud roar into his face. He responded in tandem with a Dragon Breath right to its face.

As the Excadrill screeched and clawed at its face, Rye looked at me with glowing, twitching, indigo eyes. I stumbled back, our past experiences with this state coming to mind. He gave himself a hard hit to his noggin, however, and gestured me on.

"Let's finish it!" he demanded far more confidently than usual, turning his glowy-eyed gaze back towards his opponent as Mavy zigzagged away to avoid getting stepped on. With a quick nod, I joined Rye in charging at the Excadrill. Although it seemed quite weak from the damage it'd taken, it still bared its claws and swung at us, raking at my side as I tried to slice at it. Rye immediately followed up with a jump and a hard Pound to its face, sending the creature to the ground. Before we could do anything else, though, Mavy jumped onto its chest and Headbutted it straight in the belly. This seemed to be too much for the Pokemon, as it finally fainted as Mavy jumped and cackled over its body.

"Final blow, y'all! The Zigzagoon is the champion!" he gloated. I just rolled my eyes, looking to Rye for his input. He stood still, his eyes still that blue-purple and his face uncharacteristically bold. Before I could prod at him, something in the air seemed to change around the Treecko.

Then his body started to glow a blinding white.

Mavy's cheering came to an abrupt halt as we averted our gazes, giving bug-eyed side glances at Rye's glowing form. Rye... he was evolving!

I felt a smile creep onto my face as I watched the Treecko's silhouette begin to shift out of the corner of my eye. I didn't quite know what a Grovyle was capable of, but I knew for sure it'd be useful. I felt proud for him, knowing he'd come this far since-

"No," I heard from the glowing mass. My ears stuck up in confusion as I looked at the increasingly unfamiliar Rye before me. "No. No! No! NO! NO!"

The silhouette quickly shifted back to its familiar Treecko form before the light cleared, revealing an unchanged Rye as he kept screaming, stumbling backwards onto the ground as his now-normal eyes stared off frantically.

"Rye! Rye!" I called, running over to try and calm him. As I hurriedly put a paw on him, his yelling calmed into panting as he stared off, though he soon shakily looked at me.

"I... I-I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I... I-I don't-"

"Hey, hey. Shh," I offered, trying to comfort him with a stubby-armed hug. As Rye shakily returned the embrace, I gestured to Mavy, who stood just opposite from me. The Zigzagoon blinked a bit, then pursed his lips and joined in. With the Excadrill unconscious behind us and the sun slowly dipping, I had time consider the trembling Treecko I was currently embracing.

_'This could... very well be an issue.'_

* * *

"I-I don't know what came over me. It was like I could just take on the world, like nothing could touch me. M-maybe that's just the Dragon energy Ms. May was talking about," Rye sighed, scratching at his head.

It'd been a night since our escapade at Amber Meadow, and though we'd reported the troublesome ferals and left with two hundred Poké not about to be given to the Guild, the air between the three of us had been awkward the whole way back. None of us had forgotten that near-evolution, even after sleeping on it, and it seemed that Rye had finally decided to open up. It seemed Mavy wasn't entirely understanding in this situation, though.

"Well, that don't answer shit. Why'd you stop? You coulda been a Grovyle, dammit, why would you not wanna evolve?" he demanded, earning a flinch from Rye.

"I-I don't know," the Treecko responded.

"What do you mean ya don't know?" Mavy asked.

"I just... I-I'm not ready, I don't know! I just... I don't want to evolve, not yet," Rye said.

Mavy shot me a quick look before continuing his interrogating.

"This about Totodile, or-?" he started, though quickly shrunk back as Rye yelled in frustration.

"No, i-it's not about Dill! I'm just... agh, I'm not ready, I don't know!" he groaned. "Ugh, I'm sorry. I'm... I-I know, I'm a failure, I'm a waste of a Treecko, I don't deserve to-"

"Rye. Shtap. Yeh fine," I said. Rye didn't say anything beyond that, only hanging his head and sulking along. Thankfully, Mavy didn't have anything to say, instead turning his attention to the road ahead as the Guild's hill came into view in the distance.

As we finished the process with Cinccino at the front, we stepped into the Guild campus, stopping for a moment to take it in. I stuck my paw out after a bit, and though Rye still looked pretty upset, his face relaxed into a hint of a smile as he accepted the high-five. Mavy just rolled his eyes.

"Wut, y'all too good to do the thing with me?" he asked in jest before running up and jumping to slap his own forepaw against my paw.

"Ah! Mafee!" I protested, looking at the filth the Zigzagoon had left. He'd been walking on that thing, and I was pretty sure he hadn't washed it in a long while. He just gave a cheeky smile in response, not flinching even at the Look I gave him as I followed after him and Rye, wiping my paw off the whole way.

As we approached the boards to turn towards our base, though, the sight of a few familiar faces stopped me. Deciding a quick little conversation would be nice, I waved at them. The Nidorino in the trio was the first to notice me, giving a wide grin.

"Well, shit! How's it been going?" he asked, getting to his paws and heading towards us with his teammates, earning a few paranoid looks from the passersby. Rye blinked as the three approached.

"Mr. Nidorino, hey! Uh, w-we've been alright," he said, feigning enthusiasm. "How's Zangoose doing?"

In response, Raboot hung his head and gestured to the mentioned Pokemon. Zangoose looked to have changed since I'd last seen him, mainly in that his fur had become messy and unkempt like mine. He seemed docile enough, though, only cocking his head at the sight of us.

"Zah. Zyehh-leh," he tried. Nidorino gave a bittersweet smile in response.

"It's slow, but we're getting somewhere," he said. As Raboot just looked off to the side, Rye and Mavy looked at each other, both giving a grin.

"That's nice to hear! Uh, you want any tips? I-I can try and help," Rye offered, getting a nod from Nidorino. "Uh, o-okay, so... first, I think you should focus on names. If you can, y'know, get his name down, that'll make things easier..."

As the Treecko explained away to the nodding Nidorino, my eyes strayed away from Zangoose and towards the Pokemon regarding him. A few only glanced, some winced at being so close to the feral, and a particular duo just nudged each other as they watched us talk.

"Well, isn't that sweet, they're friends," Mustie audibly said. "He and Treecko both got pets, y'know, they're perfect for each other."

Nidorino's face twitched as he heard this, though he just growled and turned away, looking over his shoulder at the two.

"Haven't heard that one before, at least. Nice job, Weavile, you're original for once," he called before giving us a nod of thanks and slipping away. Team Assail's pause at this seemed to be short-lived, as the two shot us a nasty knowing smirk before turning and walking off.

"Ugh, those two, I swear," Rye growled. Mavy snorted in response.

"Ya wanna fuck him up?" he offered.

"Honestly, kinda," Rye sighed.

"We'll fuck 'em up," Mavy grinned. "Y'know, just give the call, and ah'll-"

He stood up on his hind legs and gave a few swipes of his claws to sell the idea, only getting a look of concern from Rye.

"N-no, no we're not f... uh, d-doing that. Don't do that, please," he requested before gesturing me along to head back to base. Mavy gave a disappointed groan.

"Damn. Wanted to get back at 'em fer that one time, remember that?" he sighed, walking after the two of us.

Before I could waddle into our little base and relieve my aching little legs, an anomaly in the mail slot caught my eye.

"Hey, mail," I pointed out. Rye paused and took the piece of parchment, cocking his head curiously as he unfolded it. After reading it over for a minute, his brow furrowed.

"It's... from Team Apex. Uh, they say they wanna i-invite us to their base for dinner, talk about the expedition," he recited, looking up at us. "Th-that's good. We can, uh, say sorry for what happened, figure out what's coming next... yeah, maybe-"

"Sorry, they want us to go to their place for dinner?" Mavy asked. "Don't we already get free food? Wut's the point?"

"I-it's more, uh, a formality than just food here," Rye reasoned, hurriedly walking into our base. "Come on, let's get ready, we should... uh, you good, Beck?"

I gave a reluctant nod and headed in after Rye, dropping our bag down as I clenched my teeth. Despite the prospect of sorting things out with that gang, something didn't quite feel right. I didn't know why, but...

_'Great, here you go being irrational again. It's nothing, Beck, just go, it's fine.'_

Trying my best to calm that nagging feeling, I brushed my shaggy cheek fur in a vain effort to look presentable before following Rye and Mavy out the door.

A few minutes' walk led us out in front of Team Apex's base, the sky turning red and orange above us as Rye gave the doorframe a rap. Not a minute passed before May walked up, her eyes lighting up at the sight of us.

"Rye, hey! How's it been going?" she asked.

"Ugh, y-you know," Rye coughed. As Arden leaned into view behind May, his look souring just a bit, the Leafeon chuckled.

"Us, too. So what can we do for you?" she asked. Rye's eyes darted over to me as he momentarily hesitated.

"Uh, d-dinner, right? To talk about... y-y'know, remember?" he reminded her. May's smile seemed to falter a bit, and she and Arden exchanged a quick glance as we stood there waiting. A bit passed before May looked back to us, still grinning but evidently a bit confused.

"Well, uh, if that's what you want, come in. We'll get Pike to snag some food from Raticate, you three just... well, I'd say make yourselves at home, but... Beck, you just stay with us, alright? We'd never hear the end of it from ol' Fuss and Feathers if we let you roam," she requested. I gave a sigh.

"Yeh, mahm," I agreed. With that, Arden and May stepped aside, allowing the three of us inside, where it looked like a good few younger Pokemon had gathered to see us. As May stepped through them and went further into the base, Rye gave a nervous smile.

"Uh, hey. It- l-long time no see. R-Rue, Braze," he said. The Ralts and Bagon in the group just looked at him for a moment before approaching me.

"So, this is that feral, huh, Treecko? ...hey, little guy, how you doing?" the Ralts asked, cautiously putting a hand out as she cocked her head. In stark contrast, the Bagon quickly pushed her aside and got into my face.

"HELLO? CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" he yelled, earning a violent wince from me.

"Ah! Agh, fack!" I protested, stumbling back from sheer self-preservation instinct. The Bagon rolled his eyes.

"See? It can talk! I told you Treecko was full of Tauros!" he told the Ralts.

"Braze, that doesn't mean he's not feral!" she reasoned, kicking off an argument between the two. As they went back and forth, I reached for my ringing ears and looked over at Rye, who just watched the two sadly.

_'These guys don't care much for him, do they? Did he live like this before we met? ...well, they haven't heard all the crazy shit we've been through. That might sway them.'_

Giving the Treecko a little smile to reflect my optimism, I turned my attention to Mavy as he stared up nervously at Arden, who stayed there watching us as he rubbed at a bandage on his arm. Despite what should've been a clear sign that he was about to give Mavy a piece of his mind, that didn't seem to be the case. Rather, his brown eyes were trained on me, and his face read concern rather than anger. Though he immediately looked away, the message was clear.

Whatever the cause, I doubted this dinner was gonna go without some tension.

* * *

As the sun set, the flapping of wings sounded out from above. Mustie looked up from fidgeting with his claws in time to see Murkrow come in for a landing. The two Pokemon of Team Assail quickly stood to attention.

"How's it lookin'?" Gold asked.

"They took the bait. I'll take my position, you do your thing," Murkrow relayed. Mustie and Gold nodded, relieved that the hard part was over with.

"Damn good thing Quilava writes so sloppily, real easy to copy, know what I'm sayin'?" Gold nudged his friend.

"Yeah, yeah, is the shit ready?" the Weavile asked. Gold gave a nod, prompting a smirk from Mustie as he leaned back to consider.

From Treecko making them look like fools to Team Luster making a show of trying to rehabilitate their Zangoose, things had been strange for the Guild the past moon; a strange that Team Assail simply did not approve of. That would change tonight, Mustie hoped. Team Reach, the troublesome little shits they were, would fall back to the wayside, at least, and they would go back to their usual routine. To Mustie and Gold, this was just fine. Before they did that, however, Mustie craned his head to look at Murkrow.

"Gotta say... what's the name?" he asked.

"Er, Poe," Murkrow said.

"Okay, Poe. You're alright. You know, there's always a position open here in Team Assail if you wanna-" Mustie began.

"Nah. I work solo, always have, and I'm better for it," Poe immediately butted in. Mustie pursed his lips.

"Well, that's a shame. Y'know, keep it in mind, at least," he requested.

"Course," Poe nodded before fluttering up to watch the target bases in the distance. With his proposition delivered, Mustie took a seat next to Gold, stealing a final sneer towards Team Apex's base.

"Karma's a bitch, Quilava. Just ya wait," he smirked.

* * *

Before tonight, I'd have said that the mess hall was a bit of a chaotic mess. Sure, we usually weren't affected, but there were times we were just happy to be sitting off to the side away from the majority of the others. However, sitting at Team Apex's table, I was willing to forgive those incidents by now.

The big three were fine, down to keeping their elbows off the table if applicable: May and Arden sat and listened to Rye as he spoke while Pike gave comments every so often and avoided eye contact. That was all well and good. It was the apprentices that were the real nightmare. As I sat there chewing on the Spoink sausages that'd been served at the mess hall, I tried my best not to stare at the young apprentices as they screeched like demons and pretty much just acted the part. The majority of them, I guessed, were under fifteen (at least in Pokemon years, however that worked), so I could only watch as food flew through the air and loud yells rang from a troublesome few. The rest, thankfully, were transfixed on Rye as he recounted our antics to them.

"I-I don't know what came over me, like, I just stopped. Uh, after that, we reported the Excadrill to the town, and-

"What? You quit evolving? What kinda crap is that? Evolving's great, why would you-" Bagon demanded.

"Come on, now. Clearly Treecko here didn't need to be a Grovyle, they already don't stand a chance," Mavy said. Rye nodded in agreement and looked back at Bagon, who still rolled his eyes.

"Still stupid," he said, though flinched as May looked up.

"If he wasn't ready, he wasn't ready. That's just part of evolving. I'm sure he'll get to it one day. Now, all of you say what you thought of Rye's stories," she said. Scattered cheers of approval sounded from the apprentices as the Leafeon sighed.

"Well, despite the whole evolving thing, just know I'm still impressed. Really, only a moon and half ago I wouldn't have believed all that coming from you," she said, grinning at her teammates. Arden gave an "mhm, yeah" between a mouthful of food as Pike just shifted in his seat uncomfortably, though this didn't deter May.

"Come on, look at Beck. You can barely even tell he's feral if he doesn't speak up. Y'know, general scruff, stench, and... ahem, _table manners_ aside, he'd pass for a normal Pokemon," she nodded. I paused at the mention of manners, realizing with a start that among other things, my mouth was hanging open in chewing. Muttering a quick apology, I wiped my mouth, though Pike only shuddered and excused himself in response. As the Swellow left the room, May cleared her throat. "Anyways, I'm damn proud, Rye."

"Th-thanks," Rye said before his eyes darted over to me. "Uh, what do you mean by stench?"

"What, you haven't noticed?" May simply asked. I blinked, then hesitantly rose a stubby arm to my face and sniffed the fur. The grimace I gave said all they needed to know.

"Oh... I-I'm sorry, Ms. May, I didn't know. I'd have... M-Mavy, did you notice?" he asked. The Zigzagoon gave him a sideways look as he chewed on his food.

"Ah was bein' polite," he said. Rye and I watched for any sort of followup, but Mavy just stayed unusually quiet as he sat there, only slipping back into his usual demeanor briefly when a sausage from one of the rowdy apprentices nearly nailed him in the head. I was a bit put off by this change in behavior, but remembering how composed he was back when he first joined the team and his apparent respect for this team, I figured it made sense.

As Rye gave a quiet, embarrassed sigh, Arden cleared his throat.

"Yeah, might wanna take a dip if and when that next expedition happens. There's this Lilligant in town that makes some pretty decent soap, I can point you in the right direction tomorrow. You know, if you aren't too busy doing, uh, feral things," he said. As I raised an eyebrow and made a quiet noise thanks, May looked over in surprise.

"You? Who are you and what've you done with Arden?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. After that party and... you know," he paused, eyeing Mavy. "Uh, I did some thinking, and I figured why not. The dog's inevitably gonna sock them onto that next expedition, regardless of whatever the fuck happened back there. Might as well pull myself up by my bootstraps, do what I can to make sure you three stay in one piece for the time being."

Rye, Mavy, and I all exchanged a glance.

"Uh, th-thank you, Mr. Arden," Rye eventually said.

"Don't mention it. Maybe we can finally talk about what's all been going on while we're at it, you know?" Arden replied, leaning in towards us. "You and Oshawott here look to be in the middle of it all for some reason. I wanna get your insight, maybe we can figure out what all's going on."

"Sir? If he don't wanna talk, then you know," Mavy blurted out. Arden sighed.

"Yeah, obviously, but from experience, the best approach to shitstorms like this is clonking heads. I mean, last time heads weren't clonked... well, no one told us Tyranitar could pull Kyurem out of his ass, and that ended swimmingly. You got anything you wanna say about all this, Zigzagoon?" he asked.

"Nothing, sir. If there were somethin', they'd've told me," Mavy replied, giving me a quick look.

"You sure?" Arden asked.

"Yessir," Mavy said. Arden just sat there for a moment before narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Pardon?" Mavy replied, sounding quite unsure. In response, the Quilava gave a sigh and stood up, gesturing him along. With a quiet gulp, Mavy slipped down from his chair and zigzagged after him, and as the two disappeared into another room, an awkward silence fell over the table. Even as the apprentices yammered on beside us, we just stared at May for a minute before she straightened up.

"So, uh, Beck. You ever heard the tale of the Great Bullshittery of Port Albion?" she offered.

"Nah, mahm," I said.

"Ooh, you're gonna love this. It was maybe six years back, and the three of us were up north to-" May began, though she paused and turned her head as Arden and Mavy reentered the room, the latter looking worse for wear.

"Wh-what'd you talk about?" Rye asked. Mavy didn't answer, only looking back and forth between me and Arden with fearful eyes. After a bit, he cleared his throat.

"Can we leave?" he asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"I-I wanna go," Mavy stammered.

Both of us hesitated for a bit, though the look on our partner's face eventually got us out of our seats, leaving only enough time for Rye to mouth an apology to a confused May. As we followed Mavy out of Team Apex's dining room, I caught a glimpse of Arden nodding to himself, maybe satisfied with whatever he said to Mavy. I wasn't sure. Whatever the case, the three of us quietly filed out of the base and into the night, where Rye immediately made to catch up with Mavy.

"What happened back there? Wh-what'd he say?" he asked concernedly. Only Kricketots met our ears for a second, though as we passed through the Guild's gates, Mavy sighed.

"You promise you won't tell no one?" he asked. Though the double negative in his words didn't really help, Rye and I nodded. "Right, so the meat of it is... well, the mon threatened me."

Rye did a quick double take.

"Wh-what?! Mr. Arden? N-no, he wouldn't do that, not seriously!" he protested.

"Ehh-" I tried to add, though Mavy spoke up before I could get anywhere with that.

"He very well did, right in fronta mah face. H-he asked if I were talkin' with Pa or his club, then said if I did so much as suggest ah was gonna pull some shit with y'all, he'd-"

"Sh-shove your head up where the sun don't shine?" Rye finished. He sighed as Mavy gave him a puzzled look. "L-like I said, he isn't serious about this sorta stuff, he says stuff like that all the time."

"But this is fuckin' Cyndaquil we're talkin' 'bout, he very well could-" Mavy started.

"I-it'll be alright, I promise," Rye said. I gave a noise of agreement, though it was shaky at best. Exchanging a look with my friend, I knew I wasn't alone; neither of us quite believed this was nothing. As our base came into view, though, I decided to keep quiet about this between the both of us for now.

_'At the very least, we can figure this out over some chill t-'_

The three of us froze at our doorstep. Rather than the empty base we'd grown so accustomed to, it seemed we had visitors in the form of Mustie and Gold, their backs to us as they pushed furniture around and bickered.

"We aren't putting it behind the table, ya dingus. They aren't stupid, no one would hide stolen shit in such an obvious place," Gold whispered, gesturing to a burlap sack next to them.

"Well, where else we supposed to put it? Look around, they don't got shit but these tables. You think we're gonna go out back and bury it?" Mustie asked.

"Well, once Murkrow gets back, we can always just gorge ourselves on whatever's edible. You know, maybe then they'll buy that the feral did it. Then we can bury it," Gold suggested.

"Alright, that's actually a good idea, I'll-" Mustie nodded before glancing over his shoulder momentarily. His eyes bugged out as he froze in place, alerting Gold that something was up. We stared at each other, frozen in place for a minute.

"What are you doing?" Rye demanded.

"Y-you weren't supposed to be back for-" Gold began.

"What are you doing?!" Rye repeated, clearly angry. The two Pokemon before us hesitated before turning to fully face us.

"What does it look like we're doing?" Mustie asked, malice in his tone. Sensing where this seemed to be going, I pulled my scalchop off my chest and got into stance, though Mustie only laughed. "Wow, look at that pitiful little thing. If that's how small you grow weapons, I'd hate to see the other one."

My eye twitched as I kicked the table by the entrance in response. A clatter rang out as the Iron Thorn that'd been sitting there fell to the floor, though I quickly picked it off the floor and pointed it at them.

"Wh... the fuck is that? What'd you do to that thing?" Gold asked, looking rather perturbed at the blood-covered, juice-coated, dusty monstrosity of a weapon as I gave a few warning stabs, stepping towards the two and gesturing to Rye. Taking the hint, he and Mavy joined me in backing the two against the base's rounded wall.

"So y'all're burying something in here, tryna make us look bad somehow. Don't know what exactly yer up to, but... that's real low, whatever it is," Mavy growled, tufts on his back glowing as he held Pin Missiles at the ready.

"Why? Wh-what'd we ever do to you?" Rye asked. Mustie frowned, looking around for a way out, though he eventually exchanged a look with Gold and gritted his teeth.

"I'll tell you why. You didn't earn this. All you did was get lucky enough to run into your pet there, and the dog just gave you everything. You don't deserve this, so what something happened at Twist? Gold and I lived hungry and poor, we had no choice but to join. What do we have to show for it twenty years later, huh? Guess," he ranted. "I've seen this before. Some hotshot new team waltzes in, gets everything handed to them on a silver platter... Quilava did enough, we are not letting you do it all over again!"

Rye's fists clenched.

"Y-you're wrong! You-" he started.

"We could've avoided this, you know. We offered our friendship once, we'd have excused you if you'd been sensible then. But now... well, you may have fucked it up, but Poe's still out there. Rumors spread fast, and it's our word against yours," Mustie said.

With that, Rye gave an angry shout and fired a Dragon Breath straight at him. The Weavile only sped out of the way, then blew at us as the fireball exploded against the back wall. A bonechilling cold immediately washed over me, prompting the two crooks to bolt for the door. I only managed to land a single swing of Mizu's old Iron Thorn before they escaped, and what seemed to have been an Icy Wind ensured I couldn't even make it past the door before the two disappeared down the street, the only damage taken being the slash I'd left, a couple bruises, and a single Pin Missile.

After a minute, the deep-piercing chill began to subside, though I kept staring after where Mustie and Gold had gone as a couple of our neighbors poked their heads out curiously.

"...wh-what do we do?" Rye asked, still shivering from that Icy Wind.

"Well, we chase those assholes down, that's what!" Mavy said, immediately zigzagging ahead of us.

"Nah, cahps. We tehl be-feh sheh sha," I tried to reason. Mavy stopped in his track and gave me a confused look.

"You get any of that, Rye?" he asked.

"Cops... n-no, the Mags won't care, but we can get Ms. Cinccino! Come on, they had to have left something! L-look, there's that bag, maybe there's more!" Rye said, running back into base. Mavy and I were quick to follow, and as I took a quick look up at the small hole Rye had left, that little voice of doubt I'd grown so accustomed to decided to speak up.

_'They said a Murkrow was still out there... i-it's fine, we've got evidence and some witnesses, I think. If we can get to the Guild first, we should be good. Yeah.'_

Unbeknownst to me at the time, the shape in the sky rapidly approaching our location happened to disagree with that optimism.

* * *

This was an odd night for Poe, to say the least.

Now, sneaking into an establishment to grab whatever looked shiny? He'd done that before, that was nothing new. No, what was strange here was the nature of what he was doing now.

While getting paid to do what he usually did was new to him, the Pokemon his clients had specified... well. He'd heard tales of Team Apex, sure, and they were straightforward enough to prepare for, but Team Reach?

It'd been just under a moon since the Murkrow's ill-fated attempt to steal a Seedot's Pecha scarf, and he hadn't forgotten the rookie team that'd shown him mercy in that dungeon. An odd couple of mons, they were, but given he was still short his Reviver seed, it seemed they worked decently together, and for that, he was grateful. But now?

_'I've paid my debt. I owe them nothing. Shinies are shinies, after all.'_

That was what he told himself as he hid under a desk, keeping a decently-filled sack hidden as he watched the room warily. As had been agreed upon, the cue to begin would be whenever Treecko's team left. So long as the timing didn't go wrong, there would hopefully be no issue. Indeed, as a couple sets of paws entered the room, it seemed he'd managed to go undetected so far.

"Sucks they had to leave so early, I was just fixing to start telling them about Port Albion," a female voice sighed.

"Eh, they're too young to be hearing all that anyways," a male voice shrugged.

"You didn't hesitate to tell Rye about it three moons ago, though," the female said, revealing itself as the dainty paws of a Leafeon. "Look, I'm not stupid. What did you say to Zigzagoon, Ardie?"

The male voice hesitated as a Quilava's paws came into view. Poe gulped quietly as he connected the dots as to the two's identities.

"Ugh, fine. I told him that if he does anything that suggests he's in league with his Phoenix daddy, I'd..."

The Quilava didn't finish the sentence, though the Leafeon was all too willing to interject.

"What the fuck. Are you out of your damn mind?" she demanded.

"Dammit, what if the kid's in it with these Phoenixes, huh? What do we do then? I wasn't just gonna stand around and let that happen," the Quilava defended himself.

"He's a kid from a small town, what in distortion do you think he's gonna do?" the Leafeon asked.

"Look, I'm not saying he-" the Quilava said before the two walked out of earshot. With no one else seeming to be coming, Poe scurried out from his hiding spot and slipped down the hatch in the floor: what his clients had told him was their storage room. As he got a good look at the cramped space, his eyes lit up.

"Jackpot," he whispered. With this, he descended on the countless trinkets on the shelf, relying on the light from outside the door alone to see what he was shoveling into his sack as he whispered to himself.

"Ooh, shiny mask. What's this made of, gold? I'll take this. Gummis? Eh, don't need 'em. Got some orbs... hmph, this one doesn't even work, pass. A sack of apples, they said to get food first and foremost, I'll just take that. Oh, hoho, this is handsome, I'll-"

"May, did you move that vase? Thought we put it right here," the Quilava's voice asked from above.

"Ah, shit," Poe swore to himself. Said vase was in his sack, he didn't have long before they came looking for it. As instructed, the Murkrow made ready to imitate a particular cry and turned back to grab whatever he could. As he reached for a sack of jewels, however, he hesitated against his better judgment.

_'...this doesn't feel right. If I was just gonna grab everything and cheese it, then sure. But... that Oshawott saved me. I don't know, is it worth it?'_

"HEY! The fuck are you doing?!"

Poe cringed. He'd thought it over just a bit too long, it was too late to make any decision. The dark obscured his form, though, so he still had a chance as the Quilava jumped down into the room.

"You got balls, I'll give you that, but the gig's up, dickhead. Come out where I can see you or I'll kick your ass back to the human age!" he demanded. Poe stayed rooted in place, watching the shape warily as flames began to erupt from its head in anger. Stomp, stomp, stomp...

As the Quilava loomed over him, Poe swung a Wing Attack at the nearest shelf. It and its contents were sent tumbling atop his assailant, who barely had time to swear to himself before he was pinned under the shelf with a terrific crash. It seemed he wouldn't be down for long, though, so Poe grabbed his sack tight and ran for the hatch. As he did, though, the Quilava's paw wrapped around his leg.

"Ah! Sha!" Poe instinctively yelled as he tried to wrestle free. After a couple seconds of this, he made a hasty decision and dropped his sack, shedding enough weight to fly out of the hatch and run through the exit to take flight. Fluttering away from the base, he sighed to himself. He'd failed, but... maybe that was for the best? He wasn't sure, he'd figure it out after meeting back up with his clients. He did think it was a shame, that mask really did look rather nice.

Back at the base he'd left behind, its confused occupants gathered around the hatch as the peeved Quilava climbed out. Though the thief's load had been discarded, the idea that they'd gotten this far was enough for the two superiors of the team to give each other a glance.

"Well, you know what this means, right?" Arden asked.

"Yep, night watch till we can get some security. We'll both take first shift, you could use the company, I think," May said. The two smirked at each other as she helped her bruised partner up, though behind the concerned apprentices, a certain Swellow was not as smiley.

Pike knew what he had heard.

It seemed his warnings had not been enough. It was time for action.

Not so far away, Poe looked down at Arcanine's Guild as he circled in for a landing upon the amphitheater, squinting at the two figures sitting upon the seats. He couldn't help but give a grimace as he landed atop the statue of Arcanine, watching as Mustie pulled a large pin out of Gold's behind.

"Gah! Dammit, I told ya to do it slow!" the Persian protested.

"Yeah, quit whining," Mustie muttered, only to get a rap in the head from Gold's tail.

"I got every right to whine, the little shit shot me right in the ass!" he said.

"Oh, boohoo, the feral slashed me with that... thing!" Mustie said, holding up his arm to show the cut.

"Come on, that's barely even a scratch, mon," Gold said.

"Did you _see_ what was on that thing? Fuck knows what was growing on it, there's a more than zero chance that this arm's getting amputated!" Mustie complained. Poe ground his beak annoyedly and fluttered down between the two, which at least shut them up.

"I take it things didn't go well for you either?" the Murkrow asked.

"They came home early and walked in on us. You?" Mustie asked.

"Got cornered and had to drop the load," Poe said. The three shared a moment of silence as this sunk in.

"It's okay, it's okay. This is fine. We-" Mustie began.

"No. We're fucked. We got found out, it's over," Gold interjected.

"Well, see, they hit us, you can use the hole in your ass to drag them down with us," Mustie reasoned.

"Ding-dong, it's the self-defense clause!" Gold said frustratedly. "Honestly, the best thing we can do now is go to Quilava and explain. That's less Tauros-shit for everyone, and we don't fall as hard."

"I'm sorry, did the Zigzagoon hit you in the head, too? That's the dumbest fucking idea I've... ever..." Mustie began, though trailed off as his eyes strayed to the sky.

Taking notice of this, Gold and Poe turned their heads to look. Against the light of the waxing gibbous in the sky, a distinctly avian shape was flying in an arc from the south. That was not normal at such a time, Mustie noted as he watched. Before long, the shape suddenly circled back around and dove down, disappearing behind a line of buildings. The rookie bases...

The unmistakable sound of an attack landing sounded out from one of these bases, followed by a loud pained cry, one Mustie immediately recognized. As crashing and clattering rang out from the base, the three stared in its direction in stunned silence, though it didn't take long for Mustie to make up his mind on the matter and scramble to his feet, his wound forgotten.

"Fuck! Go!" he yelled.

"What?" Gold asked.

"Get over there and help them! I'll get Quilava!" Mustie yelled.

"But-" Gold said.

"For Arceus' sake, go! Do you want someone to fucking die?!" Mustie screamed before running off at full speed.

With nothing but dust to argue with, Gold quickly jumped to his paws and sped towards Team Reach's base, Poe flying close behind as the sound of the one-sided fight continued to echo throughout the Guild's grounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crud, I didn't mean to be gone that long. Well, uh, anyways.
> 
> Expect a bit more of an erratic update schedule over the next few months. Hopefully it shouldn't get in the way of things to come, especially given the spelunking Beck and friends are about to do. Assuming Beck survives this, of course.
> 
> That's about it. Rate, leave a comment, you know, you know. See you on the next one.


	46. Wings of Dishonor

It'd happened so fast and so suddenly. One moment, I was hunched over on the floor looking for any lingering signs of Team Assail's bullshittery. The next, there'd been a rush of wind from outside, followed by a hard, painful strike to my back.

Though the sudden attack had missed my head, everything was foggy as pain shot through my body. As I pushed myself into a seated position against the wall, a warm feeling trickling down my back, I could briefly make out panicked yelling from my teammates as they tried to hold back a large figure, though their efforts were cut short as the Pokemon blew them back with a powerful gust of wind, knocking them out the door before blocking the entrance with the base's tables. The figure before me turned just in time for my vision to clear up, revealing...

_'...oh, Arceus.'_

"I warned ya, didn't I? One grubby little paw on my friends... you pay," Pike growled, unsheathing his wings as he stood before the blocked doorway. "I'd advise ya pray, but... do you fuckin' things even know what a god is?"

With this thought, the Swellow lunged at me. My dazed mind immediately scrambled to come up with a way out of this. The base was small, and Pike was cramped in here, so I had that advantage. Everything else, though...

I hurriedly scrambled out of the way in time to avoid getting slashed. Pike quickly improvised, planting his talons against the wall and launching at me, landing a blow to my chest and causing the entire section of wall to collapse from the damage it'd sustained earlier. Behind him, Rye pulled himself in through a window to try and help me, though Pike heard this and quickly did away with him by blowing a Whirlwind at said window, knocking the entire wall over and pinning the Treecko with a loud yelp. Pike's face fell as he swore quietly at the unintended result, giving me time to frantically grab for my scalchop. I wasn't sure exactly what counted as hyperventilation, but I was pretty sure what my utter panic was driving me to do by this point counted. Trembling, I swung at Pike while he was distracted, cutting him in the leg. He let out a pained squawk and flew into the air, though before he could retaliate, a brown blur launched itself into the bird. Mavy fought bravely, clinging onto Pike and clawing away as the bird flapped wildly to try and get him off, though it was short-lived as the Zigzagoon was launched through one of the gaping holes in the wall by a Whirlwind. Before I could take advantage of the momentary pause this had brought, a lightning-fast Steel Wing knocked the shell out of my paws and into the rubble.

With that, I was cornered. Pressed against what little wall was still left standing and without a weapon to protect me, I stared up at Pike as he glared over me. Before I could conjure up a Water Gun, he stomped on my chest, pressing his talons down as he held me in place for a final blow. Unable to move and with talons digging into my chest, I felt around for something, anything that'd be able to save me, and the first thing in our base's rubble my paws met happened to be my banjo. Without hesitation, I swung it at Pike, hitting him hard across the face with a dull thud.

That success was short-lived, however, as a now even more enraged Pike knocked my makeshift weapon out of my paws and reared a Steel Wing back, one aimed straight at my neck. All I could do was gasp and clench my eyes shut, knowing this was bound to be a lethal strike.

Was this really it? After everything I'd been through, after everything I'd discovered, after all I'd endured, this was how I was going to die? I, the last human this continent knew of, was just going to have my throat cut open out of some petty grudge?

I let out a mournful, shaky cry, though it only came out as a quiet breath as I waited for the killing blow...

But it never came.

A minute passed by before I mustered up the courage to pry an eye open. Pike stood motionless, his wing still glowing and reared back as a hint of confliction entered his loathing glare. His gaze momentarily drifted to my discarded banjo, then stared into my own eyes. He stayed frozen in that position for a good while until the silver glow of his wing fizzled out, and as I watched, the Swellow hung his head and slowly lowered his wing.

As Pike stared off, I took the opportunity to start inching along the wall, reaching for my scalchop as I scooted along. Just a few more feet and I'd have a chance...

Before I could grab my weapon and retaliate, the tables blocking the entrance were suddenly blown away by a plume of flame, startling the both of us out of our stupors.

"Stop! Stop, Pike, don't hurt him!" Arden yelled as he ran in through the smoke filling the base, closely followed by my banged-up teammates, May, and... a Murkrow and Team Assail? Whatever the case, all of their gazes were trained on me as Pike kept staring at the ground.

"...I wasn't," he said.

"Are you fucking kidding me? It's bleeding all over, you call that not hurt?" Mustie demanded. Pike only stayed silent, though stepped aside to let Rye and Mavy run up to check up on me.

"What is wrong with you? You... you nearly-" Arden demanded.

"It broke into the stock, I heard it," Pike defended himself.

"What? That wasn't him, dickhead, it was that Murkrow!" Arden said. Pike hesitated long and hard.

"I-it... I..." he tried. "It's a feral, they're all the same. If it didn't happen now, then-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, he's not a fucking feral!" Arden hurriedly yelled, his vents blazing in agitation. "He's a human!"

The room fell into a deathly quiet as every eye in the room fell on the Quilava, whose flames slowly receded as his face fell, realizing what he'd just said.

_'...'_

"...what?" Pike asked quietly. "That's... that's not possible. It- h-he..."

"Beck?" May whispered, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth between Arden and I.

"I-I don't... l-look, we can talk about this later, the kid's hurt," Arden said, moving to push past Mustie and Gold and leave, though a paw on his shoulder stopped him before he could head out.

"Whoa, there, not so fast. You're either gonna give us a damn good punchline to this joke or you're gonna explain what the fuck you're talking about," Mustie said. Arden's eye twitched.

"Weavile, just... eat my fuzzy ass," he growled. "Rye, Zigzagoon, help the kid up. We're getting him to Audino right now."

Rye, his eyes still wide with shock, absentmindedly nodded and pulled me up, allowing me to lean on his shoulder as we hobbled towards the door, pushing past a silent Pike. As I tried to bear the pain shooting up my back, I felt a vine wrap around my arm, followed by a stream of stinging energy.

"Ah! Sh-stahp!" I groaned. Despite the fact I could feel my wounds hurting less, May obliged and stopped the reverse Absorb, looking over at Arden as he quietly walked.

"Ardie... wh-why didn't you tell us? How long've you known?" she asked.

"You buy this?" Arden replied. May hesitated a bit.

"Well... I mean, it explains a lot. How he turned up nearly drowning, how he hopped on board the whole civilized boat so quick... but he... I don't know, he doesn't seem like..."

She cast another glance at me, this one noticeably tinged with fear.

"...Arden, wh-what's going on? He's here for a reason, right? You... is this what's been eating you up the past moon?"

"Damn it, can we at least get the bleeding kid out of the way before this?!" the Quilava demanded, looking up at his surroundings. It seemed a small crowd had gathered to find what the commotion was all about, though I guessed by their demeanors that they hadn't heard... that. Although that gave me a bit of much-needed relief, Arden didn't seem as happy.

"Oh, gee, thanks for the help! Real happy you didn't even get Audino, you assnuggets!" he said. As the gathering murmured shamefully and began to scatter, Rye looked back at our base. As I'd guessed, several sections of the wall had collapsed, and any roof that hadn't buried our possessions was barely hanging on to what was left. Forlorn, the Treecko shakily turned his gaze forward. It seemed there were a million things on his mind he wanted to say, though one eventually croaked out.

"O-our base..."

With a glare at Pike that would have made even Giratina flinch, May sighed.

"We'll pay," she said. Arden looked over as we walked, his face looking like he'd just chugged Grimer slime.

"What, we will? Come on, at the very least, Team Assass over here should fork some shekels over before we get their asses booted!" he protested, though the three Pokemon near the back were quick to speak up.

"Whoa, whoa, hold the Rapidash! We aren't going nowhere, you hear?" Mustie asked.

"Are you dumb or just plain stupid?" Arden asked. "You break into our base and try to steal our shit, you try and fuck over these three, and you nearly get someone killed, that'd be enough to get you hung down south!"

"Yeah, we're aware, but we'd rather not get thrown out, you know? Seems like a shitty end for a fifteen-year run. You can mouth-vomit some, but unless you want us to go out and tell everyone what you just said about Oshawott there-" Mustie started.

"Fuck! What?!" Arden roared, his vents bursting into flames. As everyone jumped back, Gold hurriedly raised a paw.

"We'll pay for their base! We'll take a fine, too; you know, we went too far, I'm fine with it if everything else gets covered," the Persian reasoned.

"The fuck are you d-" Mustie began before considering. "Ugh... tell you what, Quilava. If what you're saying is true and the feral's... you know. Though an insufferable shithead you may be, it's probably best to call it for a moon or so. So how about it? Truce?"

The three of Team Apex stared for a second before Arden sighed.

"If you'll let me do one thing, then I'm game," he said, getting up on his hind legs and turning to face them.

"Which is?" Mustie asked. Arden immediately responded by punching the Weavile square in the face.

As Mustie stiffly fell to the ground and his buddies hurried to check up on in, the Quilava smirked and gestured us onward, speedwalking our shaken selves down the road towards the infirmary. As I painfully shuffled and kept leaning on Rye, my ears stuck up as a familiar Nidoran and Seedot ran out of the infirmary ahead, followed quickly afterwards by the nurse.

Audino ran up to us, her eyes widening at the sight of my injured self. Arden and May gave me another glance, both tinged with concern and uncertainty. Pike stared at the ground, his talons digging into the dirt road as he apparently tried to rationalize everything that'd just transpired. Rye and Mavy were silent, only watching me as Audino scooped me up and hurried back towards the infirmary. I just stared off, a cocktail of emotions brewing in my head.

_'Arden knew. Why didn't he tell me?'_

_'The bastard attacked me. He nearly killed me...'_

_'What do we do now? Our base is totaled.'_

_'Who else knows? If those three know, then... that's bad, to put it simply.'_

_'Just ...why?'_

* * *

Out the window, the sky was gray and cloudy, by the looks of it a final hurrah from spring before it fleeted. Given the chilly wind and gloomy gray skies above, it seemed like the perfect day to just stay inside and rest.

_'Oh, lucky me.'_

When Audino had dragged me into the emergency room, the procedure had been quick and panicked. A few doses of Oran juice here, some gauze there, and a bout of dizziness from the blood I'd lost had led me here, lying alone in a spare bed. Though I was definitely going to be alright by now, I was still troubled as I lied there with nothing but my own anxious thoughts and the background noise to entertain me.

The steady dripping of water from the roof.

The bickering of a younger-sounding team outside.

The hammering of a batch of job notices to the boards.

The distant sound of battling in the training grounds.

The Pikachu at the head of the room letting out sparks in his sleep.

I tried my best to zero in on all of this to drown out my worries, meeting only partial success in that regard. Every time I managed to drift off, I'd just circle right back to the usual. At least until my wounds from the previous night healed, it seemed I'd be stuck with replaying that day's events in my head.

I could have tried for conversation with Audino. I could have talked with the Pikachu across from me. Maybe if I yelled loud enough, I could catch up with the few explorers still here from the expedition. What would the point be, though? Even if I could have a conversation, anything I'd say would probably put me in some hot water. Audino apparently already thought I was insane, I didn't want to keep pushing it. ...yeah, if Audino knew, maybe that was how Arden found out in the first place?

_'...yeah, Arden- no, just don't, Beck. Here, someone's in the waiting room, just listen to... oh, hey!'_

"How is he?" Rye's voice asked from said room.

"His condition is stable, though he still needs a day or so to recover. He's still in the emergency ward if you want to see him, right this way," Audino said. Footfalls sounded out for a bit before the nurse appeared in the door, trying for a smile. "You have visitors."

As she stepped aside, Rye and Mavy peeked into view, followed quickly by a stillfaced Arden. Though my partners were both rather bruised from the previous night, it seemed they didn't mind as they walked up to stand over my straw bed.

"H-hey! How're you doing?" Rye asked. I just blinked and slumped in bed, getting a dry chuckle from Arden.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to hear today's been a massive clusterfuck on our end. Twenty thousand Poké fine from us, our place's crawling with Mags, and Pike's been cooped up in the office all day, getting screamed at I'm sure. Haven't seen Weavile and friends all day, I'm sure they're up there with him," the Quilava explained.

An awkward silence hung in the air as the three of us expectantly looked at Arden, whose deadpan face soon fell into a grimace.

"Audino, you mind if I steal him for a bit? Got some private things to talk about," he requested.

"Not at all, just don't do anything too strenuous," Audino nodded. I pushed myself onto my feet, leaning on Rye as we followed the Quilava outside and quickly headed behind the infirmary, sitting against a wall that looked appropriately out of earshot. With our privacy assured, Mavy sighed.

"So yer on board with their crazy talk?" he asked. Arden remained silent.

"H-how long have you known? How'd you find out? D-did you tell anyone else?" Rye asked. More silence. The Treecko's eye twitched. "Damn it, Mr. Arden-"

"Hey, watch your fucking language," Arden scolded before slumping in place. "The dog wanted me to snoop for him. I've known for about a moon."

"A mo-? M-Mr. Arcanine knows? But... we... g-gh..." Rye said before putting his hands on his head, clearly becoming overwhelmed with the situation. Putting a paw on his back, Arden looked down distastefully at Mavy.

"So, Zigzagoon. You probably get why we had that little chat," he said. Mavy gulped.

"S-sir, ah didn't even know what a hoo-mon was till 'bout a week ago," he said. Arden just scoffed, opening his mouth to deliver what I assumed was another threat before I cleared my throat.

"Why?" I asked. "Why nah tehl sh- u-us? A-and Py-keh?"

Arden took a look at my wounds and hesitated.

"The dog told me not to. If I'd told... you'd have been fucked over. I'd have been fucked over. It'd just be a whole thing of 'mons getting fucked over. Trust me, the last thing we need now is everyone knowing you're... you know, what with this whole Phoenix thing. I don't know, it's out of my control," he defended himself.

"B-but you couldn't have told us, at least? Y-you could've helped, why'd you keep quiet?" Rye demanded.

"Yeah, what do you mean _we'd_ get fucked over? Ah think we're already pretty fucked," Mavy added.

Arden gritted his teeth as I thought over it more. He could've done good by letting us know, even just a little five-minute conversation would have been preferable to... this! And given how much this had apparently been affecting him... what was wrong with him? This should've been a no-brainer, why didn't he tell us? The more I thought about it, the angrier I grew, and before long I found myself joining in my friends' yelling as Arden's eye began to twitch.

"Sha-a sha sha-wah!"

"It's common sense! Damn, do y'all city 'mon not have common sense, neither?"

"Y-you could've helped so much! Like, the expedition, I-I don't know, you could've told us what the tugging was! Th-that'd have been useful!"

Arden's fists clenched as he sat there silently.

"The most you gon do is threaten me? Like, ah heard the stories, I reckoned fuckin' Cyndaquil of Walrein's Guild would be more competent!"

"Yeh ash-hahl!"

"Why? Why didn't you at least let us know?"

"I don't know!" Arden yelled, his vents bursting into flame. We all jumped back as heat washed over us, the Quilava's face filled with built-up rage. "Damn it, you think I wanted this, Treecko? Is it really so hard to just leave me alone and let me have some fucking peace for once in my godforsaken life?!"

Not a peep came out of us as Arden panted, his head still blazing as he glared us down. After a minute, the flames simmered down as Arden sighed and sat down, his back to us.

"M-Mr. Arden-" Rye started.

"Don't. Just don't," Arden commanded. Rye shrunk back, leaving his former superior to sit there for a moment before he got to his paws. "I'm fine," he lied through his teeth.

"But-" Rye tried.

"Don't bawl over me, you've got your own shit to worry about," Arden said. With this, he pushed past Rye and Mavy and made to leave, only to stop in his tracks and look back towards me. "Right, forgot to mention. Did Audino tell you?"

"N-no," I said, confused. Arden nodded.

"Arcanine gathered everyone at the amphitheater this morning. The expedition's going forward after the next inspection, it's looking like they found the Caves," he said. "He hasn't said anything about who's going, but I'll bet my ass he's dragging you along. I'd expect an announcement tomorrow or so."

I bit my lip and exchanged a glance with my partners, looking back in time to see Arden produce a block of some sort from his bag and toss it at Rye, who gave a yelp and rushed to catch it.

"Soap from Lilligant's place on me, like I promised. You'll probably need it," he said before turning and walking off. I stared after him for a moment before giving a little nod to myself, taking the bar of soap from Rye's hand, and pushing myself up.

"Whoa, hey, now!" Mavy cautioned as he scurried under me, letting me lean on him as he led me back into the infirmary. As the three of us ended up at my bed inside, Rye and Mavy watched me expectantly, clearly waiting for my decree.

"Cahn wait?" I asked. My partners exchanged a glance.

"The wott's spoken. I mean, yer the bossmon here, it's your call," Mavy said.

"A-alright. If Beck's out by tomorrow, then I guess we'll just... yeah, wait," he decided. An agreement reached, we sat there for a moment, unsure of what to do next until Rye cleared his throat, clearly ready to change the subject as his gaze shifted to the bar of soap now resting by my bed.

"So, uh, how does this work? Do you, like, just rub it all over yourself?" he asked.

"Wut, you never used soap before?" Mavy asked.

"I-I can just wash myself off. Or, uh, shed my skin," Rye said. "Wh-why're you asking me about this? You don't seem like the type to, you know, clean yourself."

Mavy snorted as he gave me a quick look.

"You lucky sonuvaweezing," he said as he began to regale us with a tale. "Ma would have to force me into the water every time I started smellin'..."

* * *

In the late hours of the night, the carved-out caverns of the Vertress Plateau laid quiet and still. None other than night watch, some rowdy stragglers, and a select few were still awake and alert among the Phoenixes' numbers within. However, out of all of them, most would have never known of an anomaly in the underground fortress's silent ambiance: haunting music flowing through the halls.

Indeed, deep within the complex, Xatu stood motionless before a strange instrument, its keys appearing to play on their own. The Director had gifted him this piano, the last one known to work in all of the Gray Continent, though not without reason. It took much concentration and psychic prowess to play this device without the privilege of human hands, so the Director had decided this as a wonderful manner by which to train his pupil's psychic ability.

With years of practice under his wing, Xatu now stood still before his beloved instrument once more, playing a quick and elegant piece on the out-of-tune piano through telekinesis. _However, the Beethoven piece quickly slowed to a halt as he looked up from his playing. After a moment's pause, he blinked._

"I know you are there. Reveal yourself, Executive Gengar, and get to the point, lest I tear you from this wall myself," he said. A quiet scoff sounded from the wall, followed by a shape suddenly emerging from the solid stone. Xatu only stared, completely unfazed as Gengar stepped out sporting a grin.

"Keh, you want me to get to the point? If you insist. Executive meeting, top priority. The golden wind blows gently over the keeper's grounds. A storm is brewing, consider an umbrella. The oak bench there almost laughs if you listen hard enough," he said. "That good enough?"

Xatu stared at the Ghost-type, who only smirked wider before phasing through the floor, vanishing into the shadows. Now alone again, Xatu considered the coded message he'd been given.

_Expedition confirmed. Arcanine's Guild preparing for excursion to Caverns of Being. They are on alert, do not engage. You have one week, objective remains unchanged._

Not a moment was wasted before Xatu gently closed his piano and, with a brief bit of thought, teleported away to meet with his fellow executives.

The League could not afford to waste this week, this would be the best chance they had.

The Orb. The human. Both could potentially be within reach.

And yet both were still so very far away.


End file.
